Teams: No. 11 UC Davis vs. No. 7 UC San Diego; UC Santa Cruz
Records: Aggies, 7-10 (6-3); Tritons, 16-9 (5-3); Banana Slugs, 6-16 (0-6)
Where: Schaal Aquatics Center
When: Today at 6 p.m. and Sunday at noon
Who to watch: One man has been saving the team time and time again when the Aggie defense collapses. Redshirt freshman Kevin Peat has been playing out of his mind the last few weeks.
In one of the best goalie performances the country has seen all year, Peat had 14 blocks, including two five-meter penalty shots and three one-on-nobody’s, against No. 2 Stanford last Thursday.
“Kevin Peat has been playing great,” head coach Steve Doten said. “We need other guys to consistently step up to the level he has.“
Did you know? The last time these two teams met on a Friday night, things ended in fireworks.
Two years ago, when the Tritons were ranked fifth in the nation and the Aggies were ranked 13th, UC Davis scored with 1:02 to play for a 6-5 win. The victory still stands as the biggest upset in program history.
Preview: After a tough Western Water Polo Association loss last week to LMU, UC Davis is looking to rally tonight for a game with many conference implications.
This game could mean the difference between a two-seed and a four-seed in the WWPA tournament for both squads.
The Tritons have already defeated the Aggies once, 14-11, at their home pool, so UC Davis is looking to return the favor when the Southern California team makes its way up north.
Santa Cruz carries a 15-game losing streak, so Sunday’s match will likely have not much of a bearing on UC Davis‘ season.
That said, the Aggies will still come out strong with the matchup being the final home game for the seven seniors who have carried the team physically and emotionally this year.
“It’s going to be weird never playing another game at Schaal,” senior Paul Wilson said. “We have pretty much lived at this pool for five years. Sunday is going to bring some bizarre feelings.“
–Sammy Brasch
