DAVIS, Calif. — The UC Davis men's water polo team dominated the first half en route to a 10-8 victory over the tenth ranked UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. The win is the Aggies' seventh in a row, and improves their Big West conference record to 2-0.
The Aggies (14-6, 2-0) led wire-to-wire on Saturday afternoon at Schaal Aquatics Center, after Will Nomura got the scoring started off a pass from Logan Anderson early in the first quarter.
Adam Ting drew his first penalty shot of the day, which Anderson finished off from five-meters to put the Aggies up two. Aleix Aznar Beltran headed the UC Davis response to the Gauchos first score of the day, putting in a cross-cage snipe towards the end of the period.
The Aggies rattled off three more unanswered goals in the second period to take a 6-1 advantage into the halftime break.
The Gauchos came out of the half with new energy, scoring three of the first four goals of the second half to put the Aggies on their heels before a Nomura steal and score returned the momentum to the home side with seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Tyler Mrkaich put the game to rest with a powerplay goal to give the Aggies a four goal lead with two minutes to go.
Anderson, Nomura and Beltran each finished the game with two goals, while center defender played exceptional defense on UC Santa Barbara star player, Dash McFarland.
McFarland, who entered the contest averaging a hat trick and put four goals on the Aggies in their last matchup, was limited to one goal on just two shots for the afternoon.
"Obviously we were focused on number five," UC Davis head coach Dan Leyson said of McFarland. "He's extremely powerful and hard to stop."
Leyson emphasized that his squad still has work to do after the Gauchos won the last two quarters 7-4. "We have a ways to go in terms of playing a complete game…the second half remains a point of emphasis for us."
Aaron Wilson was his usual self in the goal, registering 12 saves and two steals.
The Aggies are back in action next Friday at Schaal Aquatics Center for a Senior Night showdown with Cal State Fullerton at 7:00 p.m.
