LA JOLLA, Calif. — The Mercyhurst University men’s water polo team dropped a 21-4 contest to host/No. 12-ranked the University of California-San Diego at Triton Pool on the first day of the 2026 Triton Invitational.
In the first quarter, the Tritons opened up the game with eight consecutive goals, taking an 8-0 advantage into the second quarter.
The Tritons built momentum off of their goals in the first quarter, adding two more to make their total rise to 10. Senior Ben Gavran put a stop to that, and scored the Lakers’ first goal of the season. UC-San Diego scored four more in response, taking a 14-1 lead by halftime.
Heading into the third quarter, the Tritons continued their first half momentum, scoring four more goals to take an 18-1 lead.
Approximately 30 seconds into the fourth quarter, UC-San Diego scored a goal to push their lead even further. Within moments of that goal, senior Petar Vujovic retaliated for the Lakers by posting his inaugural goal of the season.
The Lakers continued to flow with another goal coming from Gavran, but the Tritons responded with two more markers of their own.
Just as the game was about to conclude, Gavran scored his third goal in the game, giving him the first Mercyhurst hat-trick of the year.
Information courtesy Mercyhurst University Athletics Communications
