La Jolla, Calif. — No. 11 LMU defeated No. 7 UC San Diego 10-9 on Wednesday in another epic Battle of the Kings matchup. The Lions sent a crowd of 1,000 fans home unhappy after knocking off the Tritons at the Canyonview Aquatic Center.
UC San Diego opened the scoring at 6:48 in the first quarter before Bence Barics converted a power play at 5:41 for the Lions. After UC San Diego scored three straight later in the first quarter, Johnny Mendiburu answered at :21, and the Lions carried that response into the second with goals from Barics at 5:13 and Gabrijel Burburan at 1:40. UC San Diego scored on a power play at :59, but Barics responded at :41 off an Asher Smith assist.
The teams traded early goals in the third quarter before Barics added a power-play goal at 5:25, and UC San Diego scored again at :52. The Lions added a fourth-quarter goal from Caden Poulleau at 6:16, then Burburan scored at 2:33 on a power play and again at 1:29 before UC San Diego closed the scoring at :09. The Lions finished with 10 goals on 24 shots, including three power-play goals, while UC San Diego had nine goals on 28 shots and four power-play goals.
Barics scored four goals on four shots, added a steal and drew two exclusions. Burburan recorded three goals, two field blocks, a steal, an exclusion drawn and a sprint win. Pablo De Souza finished with nine saves in goal.
The Lions are 7-4 overall and are ranked No. 11 nationally. UC San Diego is 9-4 overall and is ranked No. 7 nationally.
Up next, the Lions travel to Irvine, California, for a doubleheader against UC Irvine and Navy on Saturday, Sept. 26.
