FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 5 Fresno State water polo team remains on the road this weekend for the Triton Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego in La Jolla, Calif.
Triton Invitational
Feb. 2-4, 2024 • La Jolla, Calif. • La Jolla High School & Canyonview Aquatic Center
Friday: vs. No. 11 LMU, 10:40 a.m. PT
Saturday: vs. No. 6 UC Irvine, 10 a.m. PT
vs. TBD, TBD
Sunday: vs. TBD, TBD
Live Stats: TBD
Live Stream: TBD
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
Tournament Notables
All of Friday's games will be played at the Coggan Family Aquatics Complex at La Jolla High School.
All games on Saturday and Sunday will be played at the Canyonview Aquatic Center at UC San Diego.
The Canyonview Aquatics Complex will have two pools operating at one time - Triton Pool and Canyonview Pool.
Fresno State is in Bracket D with UC Irvine and LMU.
No. 1 USC, No. 10 Michigan, No. 12 UC Santa Barbara and Concordia are in Bracket A.
No. 3 UCLA, No. 9 UC San Diego, No. 14 Arizona State and CBU are in Bracket B.
No. 4 Hawai'i, No. 13 Long Beach State, No. 16 UC Davis and No. 22 San Diego State are in Bracket C.
13 of the 15 programs are in the Top 25.
Just three of the 15 programs are from outside of California - Michigan, Arizona State and Hawai'i.
There are five GCC teams set to compete in this weekend's tournament - Concordia, CBU, San Diego State, Fresno State and LMU.
Bulldog Bones
Fresno State is 6-1 this season, suffering its first loss of the year to No. 4 Hawai'i (9-5) in the final game of the Rainbow Invitational last weekend.
The Bulldogs remained at No. 5 in this week's CWPA team rankings, their highest ranking in program history.
Fresno State is off to its best start to a season in program history, winning six in a row to open up 2024.
In Week 1, Fresno State defeated four ranked teams including then-No. 1 Stanford. It was the first time the Bulldogs defeated the Cardinal in program history. It was also the first time a GCC program defeated a top-ranked team.
Fresno State has outscored its opponents 78-55 this season.
The Bulldogs are allowing just 7.9 goals per game.
Senior goalkeeper Paula Nieto Jasny leads the conference in every goalkeeper statistic – saves, save percentage and goals-against average.
She is averaging 11.5 saves per game this season, leading
Fresno State has three of the conference's top four goal scorers as Abbey Simshauser leads with 15, Hailey Andress is second with 13 and Brooke Ochoa fourth with 11.
Ochoa leads the conference with 12 assists, and also points with 23.
Ochoa became the fourth Bulldog in program history to score 100 career goals last weekend.
Newcomer Notes
Wagner College transfer Abbey Simshauser has been an immediate impact player for the 'Dogs, leading the team in scoring through the first seven games.
Simshauser is shooting at a 50 percent clip.
She also leads the team in drawn exclusions with 15 and steals with 16.
Simshauser was the Week 1 Golden Coast Conference Player of the Week.
Indiana transfer Robyn Greenslade has played significant minutes for the 'Dogs with six goals on 12 shots.
Greenslade has added two drawn exclusions.
True freshmen Kira Anderson and Caitlin Mossman have been significant contributors in their first year. Anderson has two goals while Mossman adds five. Mossman also totals seven drawn exclusions.
Scouting LMU
Fresno State and LMU will faceoff in a nonconference meeting on Friday. The team's currently sit atop the GCC standings with 6-1 records.
LMU was ranked 11th in this week's CWPA team rankings.
LMU picked up two wins in the Fullerton Mini Invite last weekend against Fullerton and Cal Lutheran. LMU has two wins over ranked opponents so far this season in No. 20 Wagner College and No. 8 Long Beach State.
Fresno State leads the all-time series with LMU, 4-2. The Bulldogs have won four-straight in the series, dating back to April 2, 2021.
Scouting UC Irvine
UC Irvine checked in at tied for No. 6 in this week's CWPA rankings. UCI is tied with Stanford in the standings.
UCI is 2-2 this season with wins over then- No. 18 San Jose State and then-No. 11 UC Davis at the Polo-Palooza. The Anteaters fell to then-No. 1 Stanford and then-No. 4 Cal that weekend.
This is their first time in the pool since the season-opening weekend in January.
UC Irvine leads the all-time series with Fresno State 4-0.
Fresno State last fell to UC Irvine 16-9 on Jan. 21, 2023 at home.