LOS ANGELES – In a battle that paired together two of the Western Water Polo Association's unbeaten teams entering Saturday, #12 LMU handed #13 UC San Diego their first conference loss of the year, 15-12. David Carrasco scored a game-high seven goals and helped the Lions jump ahead 5-0 and never surrender the lead.
 
Blazo Mitrovic scored the game's opening goal before Carrasco closed out the first quarter with three in a row including the one coming with just two seconds on the clock.

Mitrovic extended LMU's lead to 5-0 to open the second quarter before UCSD scored the next two. Joseph Cavazos put LMU ahead 6-2 and Carrasco scored to make it a 7-2 lead. The Tritons scored two of the final three goals of the half, with Carrasco scoring for the Lions to make it 8-4 at intermission.
 
Continuing to make his mark on the game, Carrasco scored the opening two goals of the third quarter to push the Lions ahead 10-4. After UC San Diego earned one back, Cavazos capitalized at the five-minute mark to bring the lead back to six. Cavazos would score LMU's only other goal of the third quarter, but the Tritons cut into their deficit to make it 12-8 entering the final period.
 
After the first three qoals of the final period went to the visitors, Coach John Loughran called a timeout to draw up the perfect play. Jonny Rimlinger came out of the timeout with a powerplay goal to double the lead back up to two. Aden Mina and Mitrovic scored twice within a minute to increase LMU's advantage to 15-11 in the final minute. The Tritons scored with nine seconds on the clock, but nothing more would come as the final whistle blew.
 
Stelios Dalmaras helped set the tone from the start in the cage. Dalmaras recorded 13 saves on 25 starts and added an assist.
 
LMU will remain at home the rest of the season all the way into the WWPA Championships. The Lions will turn right into another crucial conference game as fellow conference unbeaten UC Davis comes to Burns Aquatics Center on Thursday afternoon.