Loyola Marymount upset No. 7 UC San Diego 10-9 on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at a sold-out Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla.

The No. 11 Lions erased a two-goal deficit and held off a late Tritons rally to claim the annual Battle of the Kings rivalry match. About 1,000 fans packed the sold-out venue, according to LMU athletics.

UCSD (9-4, 0-0 Big West) controlled the opening quarter. Dusan Djordjevic, Jackson Boettner, Finn Bugelli and Lachlan Rossi each scored to build a 4-2 cushion. LMU's Bence Barics and Johnny Mendiburu answered with the Lions' two first-quarter goals.

LMU outscored UCSD 3-1 in the second quarter to tie the game 5-5 at halftime, first reported by the UCSD Guardian.

LMU senior Roman Saroyan scored early in the third quarter, and Barics followed with a power-play goal at the 5:25 mark to give the Lions their first lead at 7-6. UCSD fought back to tie it 7-7 entering the fourth.

The fourth quarter produced three lead changes. LMU scored first, and sophomore Boettner answered to tie it with 2:49 left. Sixteen seconds later, LMU converted another power play to go up 10-8 with 1:29 remaining. Gabrijel Burburan scored that go-ahead goal for the Lions, according to LMU's recap. Boettner found the net one last time with nine seconds on the clock to cut the deficit to 10-9, but UCSD could not force overtime.

"Credit to LMU," UCSD head coach Matt Ustaszewski said after the game. "They stuck to their game plan and made it a fight for us all the way through."

Ustaszewski said the Tritons played into LMU's tempo after the first quarter and were not disciplined enough in the frontcourt to sustain their early advantage.

Boettner's four goals matched his career high, according to UC San Diego athletics. The sophomore has scored in all 12 games this season and has logged five hat tricks, including in his last two outings. His 28 goals rank second on the UCSD roster.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Hegeman recorded six saves through the first half, blocking two shots back-to-back during one second-quarter sequence. LMU goalkeeper Pablo De Souza finished with nine saves.

Barics matched Boettner with four goals on four shots and drew two exclusions. Burburan added three goals for the Lions, who improved to 7-4.

The Battle of the Kings is a rivalry dating back more than 20 years, according to UC San Diego. The first 1,000 students received commemorative golden crowns, and a watch party at Warren Field accommodated fans who could not get into the sold-out venue.

UCSD travels to the Gary Troyer Tournament in Claremont on Friday, Oct. 2, with games against Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer. The Tritons open Big West play at Long Beach State on Friday, Oct. 9. The two teams meet again Saturday, Oct. 24, at 2 p.m. at Canyonview.