LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The Augustana Vikings men's water polo team split day one of the Gary Troyer Tournament. In game one, the team fell to the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen by a score of 7-9 before defeating the UC Merced Bobcats by a score of 11-10.  

In game one, straight off the sprints, Oskar Bannister attempted a shot that was just wide of the cage to get Augie's momentum going. Cal Lutheran collected three shots with one resulting in a goal, before the Vikings' next shot found the back of the cage from Stevan Rasic off a pass by Tyler Leslie to even the score at one apiece. 30 seconds later, the Kingsmen secured another goal to take the lead and held Augie to just one until one second left in the period, when Rasic put a shot in the goal once again to tie the game at 2-2 after eight minutes of play. 

In the second period, Trentin Lechleitner won the sprint to give James Davis the opening to the back of the net to take the 3-2 advantage. The defense held Cal Lutheran to just one shot attempt until 4:53, when they tallied another. Two minutes later, Rhys Lomax moved the upper hand back to the Vikings' favor entering halftime. 

Returning to action, the Kingsmen collected two goals to snatch the lead before Lomax brought the difference back to one on a successful penalty goal to draw the score even once more. Cal Lutheran put up another to stretch the difference to one entering the final eight minutes of play. 

In the fourth period, both teams fired off shots with Cole Faux evening the score at six apiece at 4:20. The Kingsmen followed with two to regain the two-point advantage with Lomax getting within one in a power play, but Cal Lutheran closed out the game with a successful shot to take the game 9-7.

Lomax led the team with three goals out of his four attempts, and Declan Hutton finished the game with nine saves and two steals in his 32 minutes in goal. 

In game two, Ian Palmroos won the sprint to allow Rasic to fire a shot to the back of the cage at 7:43 to grab the early lead, before UC Merced followed right after with one of their own. Both teams fired shots, with Rasic regaining the lead after he beat the goalie to put it back in the net at 4:25. The Bobcats tallied two more with under two minutes remaining before Mark Addison scored to make a 3-3 score. UC Merced closed out the period with a goal to make a 4-3 score after eight minutes of play.

In the second period, Mason Landes evened the score at 6:15, and both teams remained scoreless until 1:24 when the Bobcats pulled ahead by a score of 5-4. With nine seconds remaining in the half, Alden Brinkmeier fired a shot to the back of the cage to even the score entering halftime. 

Returning after the break, Lechleitner won the sprint and put a shot in the back of the net while a man up to snatch the 6-5 upper hand. At 4:43, the Bobcats put another in the back of the net, but Landes followed with a successful shot of his own to pull ahead once again. UC Merced found two to end the third period with a score of 8-7. 

In the final eight minutes of action, the Bobcats moved the differential to two before Landes tallied another point to pull within one at 9-8. Both teams went back and forth with goals, with Augie's coming from Lomax, who fired a shot to the back of the goal with an extra attacker to create a 10-9 game. With 1:24 remaining, Ben Symington dents the twine with an assist from Bannister in a man-up advantage to even the score at 10 apiece. Addison notched a buzzer-beater with an extra attacker to conclude the game with a score of 11-01. 

Landes led with three goals out of three attempts, and Lomax finished with three steals. Hutton collected eight saves in his 32 minutes in goal. 

With the split record, Augie moves to 2-4 on the season and will be back in action tomorrow for day two of the Gary Troyer Tournament.