SOUTHLAKE, Texas – The University of California, Merced men's water polo team split the final day of the Austin College Invite on Sunday, falling 14-8 to Johns Hopkins before beating OUAZ 17-13 in the weekend finale.

The Bobcats (3-6) led by as many as six goals and never trailed in the victory over OUAZ.

Andrew Jones, Evan Ladeairous, and Weston Oliver paced the Bobcats with five goals apiece on the day. Jones scored a Sunday high four goals in the win and has found he back of the net in all nine games this season.

Hayden Markell and Vincent Labonte scored in both matches. James Soto and Patrick Jones recorded a multi-goal outing to finish the day. Soto registered his first career hat trick.

Game One | Johns Hopkins 14, UC Merced 8

UC Merced struggled to get its offense going in the early morning game and were held to just two first half goals, one from Oliver and one from Ladearious. Johns Hopkins led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter and built a 6-2 lead by intermission.

Head coach Hannah Ellett's squad came out faster in the second half with two quick goals from Labonte and Ladearious to cut the deficit to 6-4 just 90 seconds in. The two teams traded goals the rest of the quarter as Johns Hopkins led 9-6 going into the final frame.

Ladeairous scored the first goal of the fourth quarter to make it a two-goal margin, 9-7, and secure his first career hat trick. However, the Blue Jays followed with back-to-back goals to open up a four-goal lead with 5:28 remaining. A. Jones followed with his first of the game but that was the final score for the Bobcats as they went on to fall 14-8.

Game Two | UC Merced 17, OUAZ 13

Soto scored the games first goal and UC Merced and OUAZ went goal-for-goal to start the match resulting in a 3-3 tie at the end of the first quarter. Soto scored two of the Bobcats three with Oliver scoring the middle goal.

Jones broke the tie to start the second quarter and scored two unanswered to put the Bobcats up 5-3. After more back and forth action that saw three different Bobcats match OUAZ goals, Jones deposited another shot into the back of the net just before intermission to lift UC Merced to a 9-6 lead at the break.

The Bobcats created separation in the third quarter starting with a Soto goal on the first possession. Labonte followed with a score shortly after and it was 11-6 in favor of the Bobcats. UC Merced led by at least four goals the rest of the way and claimed its first game-high lead of six goals at 13-7 following a Ladeairous goal at the 4:53 mark of the third quarter. UC Merced's lead was 15-10 going into the fourth quarter.

Labonte and Oliver capped the Bobcats scoring on Sunday with two early fourth quarter goals to make it 17-11. UC Merced's defense held OUAZ to just two goals the remainder of the match to come away with the 17-13 victory and the third win of the weekend.

Looking ahead, UC Merced will return home to host Diablo Valley College (10:00am) and Merced College (11:30am) in exhibition matches on Saturday, September 27 at the Aquatics Center.