LA JOLLA, Calif. — The No. 7 UC Davis men's water polo team opened the 2022 campaign with a resounding 16-3 win over No. 18 Pomona-Pitzer, then pulled off an upset, knocking off No. 5 Long Beach State, 13-7, to complete day one of competition at the Triton Invitational on Saturday in La Jolla, Calif.
 
"We are encouraged by todays results but understand that it's the first two games of the season," head coach Daniel Leyson said. "We have our work cut out for us against tough opponents tomorrow and basically every weekend from here on out."
 
Finishing with a pair of wins, the Aggies will now go head-to-head against No. 3 UCLA to open day two, facing the Bruins at 9:30 a.m. at Triton Pool on the UCSD campus.
 
The winner then plays the winner of No. 10 Pepperdine and No. 2 USC at 2:45 pm, with the losers matching up at the same time at Canyonview Pool.
 
UCLA defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 16-3, in its tournament opener before squeezing out a 7-6 victory over No. 8 UC Santa Barbara later in the day.
 
The afternoon clash pitted a pair of top-10 programs against one another, and matchup was a closely contested battle. The Aggies jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the opening period. The two teams exchanged a pair of goals in the second quarter before Long Beach State added one more to make it a 6-3 Aggie lead at halftime.
 
In the third period, the Aggies and Beach traded three goals. The Aggies used a strong finish with four goals while allowing just one to put the bow on the upset, capped on a goal by junior Holden Neach to seal a 13-7 victory.
 
In the opener, eight different Aggies found the back of the net in the rout of the Sagehens, led by hat tricks from redshirt junior Aaron Voggenthaler and freshman Brody Crouch, which was his first career hat trick.
 
UC Davis scored the first four goals and led 9-1 at the break, before adding three in the third period and four more in the fourth en route to the win. The Aggies scored a pair of 6-on-5 goals on five opportunities with one from redshirt senior Levi Murtaugh and another from senior Connor Norton.