SAN JOSE, Calif. – #11 LMU men's water polo closed out their time in San Jose with two big wins on Saturday, defeating both #16 UC Santa Barbara and #8 UC Davis. The Lions won a morning match against the Gauchos with a one-goal win before controlling the match against the Aggies later in the afternoon to win, 16-12.
 
GAME 1: #11 LMU 10, #16 UC Santa Barbara 9
 
UC Santa Barbara opened the game with a penalty shot goal. LMU then responded with the next three goals as Roman Saroyan, Jonah Allen, and Kaden Breaux all beat the keeper to push the Lions ahead, 3-1. After the Gauchos added one back, Tomasso Baldineti scored the final goal of the period to take a 4-2 lead.
 
Alika Naone and Breaux went back-to-back to open the second quarter and give LMU its largest lead of the day at 6-2. The Lions carried a 6-3 lead into halftime.
 
The Gauchos pulled within two on their opening possession of the second half before Naone and Baldineti doubled the lead back up to four, 8-4. UCSB scored twice more in the quarter to make it a two-goal game entering the final eight minutes.
 
Baldineti pushed LMU back up by three to enter the fourth quarter with his third goal of the game. UC Santa Barbara capitalized on a powerplay to goal to stay within two before Caden Carpenter pushed the score to 10-7. The Gauchos added two goals over the final 2:34, but the Lions fended off an equalizer to secure victory.
 
Finn Friedland earned the win after making 12 saves in the cage.
 
Game 2: #11 LMU 16, #8 UC Davis 12
 
UC Davis scored the game's first goal, but Roman Saroyan, Alika Naone, and Richie Rimlinger strung the next three consecutive goals to match the morning game effort.
The Aggies tied the game with the first two goals of the second period before Nico Furneaux went back-to-back to push the lead back up to two. After UC Davis added one back on a powerplay, Caden Poulleau did the same for the Lions to give LMU a 6-4 advantage heading into halftime.
 
The third quarter started with LMU rolling three goals in a row. Tommaso Baldineti, Poulleau, and Abel Romero Corbalan pushed the Lions ahead 9-4 at the 2:55 mark of the third. After the Aggies stopped the run, Romero Corbalan scored his second of the period on the ensuing LMU possession. UC Davis converted a penalty shot before Poulleau's third of the game went in the cage. Jake Bonavia added LMU's sixth goal of the quarter before the Aggies scored with a second left to make it a 12-7 game entering the final quarter.
 
Baldineti extended the lead to 13-7 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. After UC Davis scored the next three, Naone put an end to the run with his second goal of the game. After UC Davis pulled back within three, goalkeeper Finn Friedland scored from the cage and Ryan Boschken added one more in the final last minute of play. The Aggies scored in the closing seconds, but the win was already secured by that time.
 
Finn Friedland added seven saves to his goal and earned his second ranked win of the day.
 
Up Next
LMU returns home to play a pair of West Coast Conference games. The Lions host Air Force on Saturday, Oct. 17 under the lights and then host Pacific on Oct. 19 for a Sunday 1:00 PM contest.
 
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