LA JOLLA, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's water polo team battled but came up short against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and UC Santa Barbara on the second day of the Triton Invitational earlier on Sunday.

CMS is currently the top-ranked team in NCAA Division III. UCSB is No. 11 in NCAA Division I.

Sunday's opener was the Bobcats most competitive of the young season as they held the game's biggest lead and were up two goals inside of the final five minutes before falling to the reigning USA Water Polo Division III national champion CMS.

Vincent Labonte led the way with his second straight five-goal match, while Camden Peterson recorded his first hat trick of the season. William Pezold, Evan Ladeairous, and Howie Zeff added one goal each.

Labonte scored his first of five goals in the opening 30 seconds before CMS scored three straight to take the lead.

UC Merced countered with their own run and head coach Johnny Bega's squad reeled off five straight goals to double up CMS with a 6-3 lead with just over two minutes to play before intermission. Labonte scored three goals in the surge. CMS pulled within one, but Labonte scored his fifth of the match to put the Bobcats up 7-5 at halftime.

UC Merced and CMS traded goals in the third quarter but CMS scored three straight stretching into the final frame and they jumped in front 9-8.

The back and forth action continued with the Bobcats scoring three straight with Zeff netting the equalizer and then Peterson following with back-to-back goals to put UC Merced up 11-9 with 4:45 to play.

However CMS controlled the final four minutes and outscored the Bobcats 3-0 to win the game, including tallying the game-winning goal with 2:37 on the clock.

The CMS run put the Bobcats behind 12-11. The scoring stopped there for both teams as the Bobcats came up just short of their first win of the campaign.

Matthew Lloyd recorded 15 saves in his third consecutive start in the cage.

The Bobcats second game against UCSB saw Evan Ladeairous record his first career multi-goal game against a NCAA Division I opponent. The Fresno, Calif., native scored one goal in the first quarter and one more in third quarter. Tommy Bauer, Noah Hernandez, Labonte, and Peterson scored a goal each. Sunday afternoon marked the first goal of the season for Bauer and Hernandez.

However, UCSB was too much for the Bobcats in the 29-6 win and it was Dom Brown to power the Gauchos with a match-high six goals. Three other Gauchos recorded a hat trick or better.

UCSB led 6-3 after one quarter of play and then took over in the second quarter scoring eight consecutive goals to go up 14-3.

UCSB led by double figures the rest of the way.

Matthew Lloyd made six first quarter saves for the Bobcats. Ethan Stocker combined for seven saves in the final three quarters in his first action of the season.

Up next, UC Merced will play in the Aggie Roundup hosted by UC Davis September 14-15. The Bobcats begin their four-match tournament slate with American River College at Schaal Aquatics Center. Time is TBA.