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Box Score 2 SOUTHLAKE, Texas – The University of California, Merced men's water polo team combined for 42 goals and picked up its first two wins of the season on Saturday at the Austin College Invite, beating Austin College 16-8 and Caltech 26-8.
The Bobcats (2-5) 26 goals against Caltech marked a program-record and the 18-goal win is the biggest margin of victory in program history.
UC Merced's first victory over Austin College also marked head coach Hannah Ellett's first career win.
Eleven Bobcats found the back of the net and seven Bobcats scored at least once in each game.
Vincent Labonte and Andrew Jones scored a career-high six goals each in the program-record setting win and scored eleven and ten goals on the day, respectively. Both Bobcats moved up the program's all-time record book.
Jones passed William Pezold for second in program history with 87 career goals, while Labonte passed Killian Nguyen for fourth with 70 career goals.
Game One | UC Merced 16, Austin College 8
UC Merced erupted for eight unanswered goals and led Austin College 10-2 at halftime to start the Austin College Invite. After Austin College struck first, Labonte tied the game to start the Bobcats 8-0 run.
The Bobcats 8-0 run stretched from the 6:23 mark of the first quarter to the 4:48 mark of the second. Labonte and Jones each registered a hat-trick by the midway point of the second quarter. James Soto and Misha Golovatyi were responsible for the Bobcats other two goals in the run.
Defensively, UC Merced held Austin College without a goal for over 12 minutes of gametime in the first half. When the Kangaroos did score, Weston Oliver and Aydann Hambruch answered by putting a ball into the back of the cage before intermission.
Labonte was the Bobcats only goal scorer in the third quarter as UC Merced carried an 11-5 lead into the final frame.
Labonte also scored on the first possession of the fourth quarter. Soto followed 90 seconds later to extend the Bobcats lead to 13-5. After a Kangaroos goal, Christian Soto and Jones delivered the knockout punch with back-to-back goals to put their team up 15-6 with 3:17 to go. Weston Oliver scored the Bobcats 16th and final goal in the closing minute.
Game Two | UC Merced 26, Caltech 8
UC Merced's 26 goals were four more than the previous school record of 22 that were scored against Caltech on September 30, 2023.
Jones and Labonte led the charge this time around against Caltech with a career-high six goals apiece. Oliver added to the offense with his first career hat trick.
Labonte found the back of the net three times in the first three minutes to get his team off to a hot start in the wire-to-wire victory. Oliver scored the next two, but Caltech battled back and the Bobcats lead was just 5-4 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bobcats took control in the second quarter outscoring Caltech 7-1. Jones highlighted quarter with a hat trick, while Labonte added two more goals of his own. J. Soto and Patrick Jones also deposited a shot into the back of the net to help the Bobcats lead 13-5 at halftime.
UC Merced continued to showcase its offense in the second half. After going goal for goal with Caltech in the first three minutes of the third quarter, UC Merced dominated the rest of the game outscoring the Beavers 11-0 over the final 13 minutes of the game. The Bobcats led 21-8 heading into the fourth quarter on their way to the 26-8 victory. In the middle of the third quarter UC Merced scored a goal on five straight possessions.
More second half goal scorers for UC Merced include Matthew King (2), Hayden Markell (2), Hambruch, Golovayti, C. Soto, and Tommy Bauer.
Up next, UC Merced will play Johns Hopkins and OUAZ to finish up the Austin College Invite on Sunday, September 14 in Southlake, TX.
