LA JOLLA, Calif. – The Mercyhurst men's water polo team continued the 2026 campaign at the final day of the Triton Invitational. Competing in two different matches, the Lakers lost their first game of the day against UC Santa Barbara 27-6, and lost their second match against St. Mary's 26-9.
 
Game One
The Gauchos opened the first quarter with five consecutive goals, taking a 5-0 lead into the second quarter.
 
The Gauchos continued to bring the momentum by scoring two straight goals to open up the quarter. Sophomore Declan Puacz broke the Gauchos' scoring run and scored a goal for the Lakers. UC Santa Barbara continued the momentum, scoring six goals to take a 13-1 lead going into the half.
 
Sophomore Aiden Ivory opened up the third quarter with a goal for the Lakers. The Gauchos continued to bring the momentum, scoring eight consecutive goals in the period. Senior Asher Jones put an end to that scoring run and scored with just under 20 seconds left for Mercyhurst. The Lakers trailed by 18 going into the fourth quarter.
 
UC Santa Barbara began the fourth quarter with four consecutive goals scored. Mercyhurst responded with back-to-back goals, with the first one coming from junior Caden Stover and the second one coming from Puacaz tallying his second of the game. The Gauchos responded with two more goals of their own. Stover scored his second of the game in retaliation, but it was not enough for Mercyhurst.
 
Game Two
The Gaels opened up the game with three consecutive goals within the first two and a half minutes of the game. Sophomore Declan Puacz scored quickly after St. Mary's third goal to narrow the deficit to two for Mercyhurst. The Gaels proceeded to score consecutive goals to close out the quarter with a four goal lead.
 
St. Mary's continued to bring the momentum with three goals to open up the quarter. Senior Ben Gavran stopped that and scored a goal for the Lakers. The Gaels responded with three more goals, extending their lead to 10. Towards the end of the first half, both the Gaels and Lakers traded goals. During this span, freshman Porter Austin and Gavran scored for Mercyhurst, taking a 13-4 deficit into the half.
 
In the third quarter, St. Mary's opened out to a scoring run of eight straight goals,. Puacz put an end to that, and scored his second goal of the game. The Gaels responded with seven seconds remaining, extending their lead to 17.
 
Mercyhurst opened the fourth quarter with three consecutive goals. The first two came from Gavran, totaling his number of goals on the day to four. Puacz scored the next goal, giving him three on the day for the Lakers. The Gaels responded with a goal of their own, but sophomore Auggie Paredes quickly responded for Mercyhurst. St. Mary's scored the final three goals of the game, taking a 26-9 victory against the Lakers.
 
The Lakers return to the pool when they travel to Salem, W. Va. to compete at the Salem Invitational. On Sep 12., they will compete against Johns Hopkins at 11:30 a.m. and Salem at 3:30 p.m. On Sep. 13, they will compete against Washington & Jefferson at 11:40 a.m.