MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's water polo team scored 13 unanswered goals en route to a 16-5 win over Merced College on Friday afternoon at the Aquatic Center.
The Bobcats (6-3) total goals output marked the second highest of the season, while the five goals allowed were the fewest of the early campaign.
Andrew Jones led the Bobcats with a career-high four goals, all coming in the first half.
Killian Nguyen scored the Bobcats first two goals in the first 90 seconds of the match and finished with three on the day for his third hat trick in the last four outings.
William Pezold tallied his first career hat trick while extending his goal scoring streak to a team best nine consecutive matches.
Evan Ladeairous netted two scores. Tommy Bauer, Andrew DeMello, Noah Hernandez, and Camden Peterson also found the back of the net. DeMello's goal was his first of the year.
Matthew Lloyd, who earned the start in goal, was one of four Bobcats to log minutes in the cage. He stopped all three shots that came his way.
UC Merced jumped on Merced College from the opening sprint. Nguyen scored just 50 seconds in and the Bobcats followed with five more goals in the first quarter.
Head coach Johnny Bega's team kept tempo, scoring two more within the first three minutes of the second quarter. After over three minutes of not scoring, the Bobcats scored three more times in the final two minutes of the first half and led 11-0 at intermission.
Out of the break, Hernandez scored his goal and Oscar Luna made some terrific saves to keep the shutout alive. Nguyen added a goal in the final minute of the third quarter to extend the Bobcats lead to 13-0. Luna stopped a penalty shot in the quarter, one of six saves he would have to make in his eight minutes of action.
Merced College broke through for a goal 58 seconds into the final period. They would finish with five in the quarter, but not before UC Merced grabbed their biggest lead of the match at 16-2 following DeMello's goal with 3:36 to play.
Along with Lloyd and Luna, Sebastian Palomera and Ethan Stocker played a quarter in goal. Palomera was in the cage in the second quarter with Stocker logging the final eight minutes.
Looking ahead, UC Merced plays West Valley College in the Aggie Roundup on Saturday, September 9 at 12:20pm. The Aggie Invite will be hosted by UC Davis at the Schaal Aquatics Center.
