IRVINE, Calif. – Faced with the tough task of hosting the preseason conference favorites from UC San Diego, the Concordia University Irvine men's water polo team battled the Tritons on Wednesday in its home opener.

The Eagles (1-4, 0-1 WWPA) scored six times in the second half, but an early deficit proved to be too much to overcome and the Tritons (3-2, 1-0 WWPA) emerged with a 20-8 victory at Woollett Aquatics Center.

Nick Walker tallied three goals and added an assist to lead the CUI offense. In his first game back in the pool since netting the game-winner at the buzzer to beat Chapman, Marius Jakimcikas continued his fine play with two goals and a pair of assists.
Trailing 6-0 early, Messan Moore opened the scoring for the home team late in the first quarter. Jakimcikas stole the ball from a Triton near the center of the pool and rewarded Moore for his hustle by feeding him for a breakaway goal with just nine seconds left in the opening period.

With UC San Diego holding a 7-1 advantage, Patrik Zsiros also found the back of the net in the second quarter thanks to a nifty pass by Walker. But the visitors responded quickly after Tritons redshirt junior Calder Hilde-Jones scored on a no-look attempt and UC San Diego led 8-2 at intermission.

Refusing to back down from the challenge, the Eagles showed they could surprise the UC San Diego defense as well. CUI senior Cristiano Tomasseti converted a beautiful no-look shot off a quick pass from Jackimcikas which wowed the crowd at Woollett Aquatics Center. However, the Tritons had enough of a cushion to maintain their lead to the final buzzer.

"They are a fast team and they are one of the top teams in our conference," said Walker. "We're working a lot on our transition defense and communicating. We had some very good individual plays there, we just gotta be more consistent with it."

The Tritons won the WWPA Tournament and regular-season championships last season, en route to an appearance in the National Collegiate Water Polo (NCWP) Semifinals and a No. 5 final ranking in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 20.

"The outcome might not be what we wanted but we for sure are going to see them later on in postseason and we look forward to playing them again," added senior Michael Marr.

Next up for the Eagles is the Inland Empire Classic which will feature four matches for the Green and Gold. The next home game for CUI is back at Woollett on Friday, Sept. 20 at 1:30 p.m. against UC Irvine.

For the full CUI men's water polo schedule, click here.