2017 WWPA Championship Central
LA JOLLA, Calif. - Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt scored four times and Skyler Munatones and Cooper Milton each tallied three goals to lead second-seeded and host UC San Diego to a 16-9 victory over No. 7 seed Santa Clara men's water polo during on Friday in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championship.
Turnbow-Lindenstadt, the WWPA Freshman of the Year, scored twice and Alessandro Valania had both of his markers in the third quarter when the Tritons (10-13) tallied seven goals, including five on the power play, in the preliminary-round game in the eight-team, three-day tournament.
Patrick Kirk scored three goals and Scott Zurnacian added two for the Broncos (7-16) who rallied from four-goal deficit in the first half.
Luca Pagano, John Raineri and Shane Hughes scored within a 60-second span to knot the game at 5-all with less than two minutes remaining before halftime. But Turnbow-Lindenstadt scored on an exclusion, one of seven whistled on Santa Clara in the period, and Milton on even strength in the final minute of the of the quarter.
After Zurnacian scored to cut the deficit to 10-8 midway through the third, UC San Diego tallied four straight, including the final three with the man advantage, to retake control of the game.
The Tritons went 7-for-13 on the power play and the Broncos just 3 of 9.
NEXT UP
In Saturday's winners bracket, UC San Diego faces third-seeded Cal Baptist, which defeated No. 6 seed LMU, 15-9, Friday afternoon. The Broncos play the Lions at 11 a.m. Saturday in a consolation game.
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