LOS ANGELES – For the first time and less than a month in his young career, Head Coach David Carrasco beat a pair of ranked opponents including snapping a 10-game skid for the LMU Water Polo program against UC Santa Barbara that dated back to 2009.
 
The #T-14 Lions opened the day with a 13-9 win over #18 Brown before defeating #T-19 UCSB in a thrilling, 16-12 nightcap.
 
GAME 1: #T-14 LMU 13, #18 Brown 9
Brown scored the game's first goal just over a minute into play. Tommaso Baldineti tied the score at 1-1 at the 5:15 mark. After the Bears retook a brief lead, Alike Naone closed out the period with the final two goals of the first to push LMU ahead 3-2.
 
The lead doubled as Caden Carpenter converted on a 6-on-5 early in the second quarter. After Brown pulled back within one, Nick Leung, Caden Poulleau, and Naone added three consecutive goals to push the Lions ahead 7-3. The Bears added a goal with seconds on the clock to make it a 7-4 game at the break.
 
The two sides traded off goals in the third quarter. Abel Romero Corbalan pushed the lead back to four goals before Brown answered. Baldineti did the same with a powerplay goal before again the visitors responded to bring the game to 9-6 entering the final period.
 
In the opening minute of the fourth quarter, Soren Martin pushed the Lions to double-digit goals. Brown added one back on the ensuing possession. Poulleau scored his second of the day with 6:26 on the clock. The Bears pulled within two with back-to-back goals at 3:44 and 3:03 to bring the score to 11-9. In the closing minutes, Baldineti scored his third of the day and Naone scored his fourth to secure the game for the home team.
 
Finn Friedland made 12 saves and added three steals to earn the win.
 
GAME 2: #T-14 LMU 16, #T-19 UC Santa Barbara 12
UC Santa Barbara opened the game with the first two goals to take an early lead. The Lions did not get on the board until freshman Mateo Obando's goal at 4:31 in the first. The Gauchos added one in the final two minutes of the opening period to take a 3-1 advantage into the second quarter.
 
The visitors converted a penalty shot to take a 4-1 lead at the 6:25 mark of the second quarter, but that would be the last Gaucho goal of the half. LMU erased the three-goal deficit with the final six goals of the half. Nico Furneux scored against his former team and Abel Romero Corbalan pulled the Lions within one on the following possession. Bence Barics tied the game at 4-all with 2:46 to play in the opening half. Over the final 2:08, Alika Naone, Soren Martin, and Furneaux helped increase the lead to 7-4.
 
The Gauchos scored the first goal out of the intermission before Romero Corbalan added one back just 15 seconds later. Tommaso Baldineti pushed LMU ahead 9-5 on a converted powerplay. UCSB Scored the next three goals to pull within one with less than a minute to play in the quarter. Romero Corbalan doubled the lead back up to two with 28 seconds on the clock, but the visitors cut it right back in half to a one-goal game with six ticks left.
 
After Santa Barbara tied the game at 10-all, Furneaux pushed LMU back ahead, 11-10, with 5:35 to play in the game. UCSB would tie the game once again with 5:06 to play, before the Lions rattled off five consecutive goals starting with another go-ahead score from Furneaux. Baldineti, Jake Bonavia, Richie Rimlinger, and Jaxon Hoover all scored fourth quarter goals to increase the lead to five. The Gauchos scored with a second left, but the game had already been decided.
 
Roberto Barrera Sanchez earned the win with double-digit saves in the cage for LMU.
 
Up Next
The Lions will play in the MPSF Tournament next week. The sites, opponents, and game times will all be revealed following the weekly national polls.
 
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