Jackson Boettner tied the Battle of the Kings with 2:49 left. UC San Diego then gave Loyola Marymount consecutive power plays, and Gabrijel Burburan converted both. That 64-second swing carried No. 11 LMU past the seventh-ranked Tritons 10-9 Wednesday night at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
The teams entered the fourth quarter level at seven. Caden Poulleau put the Lions ahead at 6:16, forcing UC San Diego to chase. Boettner answered with his third goal. The tie lasted 16 seconds. A Triton exclusion opened the water for Burburan, who scored at 2:33 and struck again with 1:29 remaining on another extra-player chance.
UC San Diego still had one move. Boettner scored his fourth with nine seconds left, extending a streak in which he has found the net in every match this season. The Tritons could not manufacture another possession. LMU ran out the final seconds with the one-goal margin intact.
The finish reversed a strong UC San Diego start. The Tritons led 4-2 after one quarter, attacking before LMU's defense could settle. The Lions won the second period 3-1, producing a 5-5 halftime score, and both teams added two in the third. Neither side owned more than a single-goal cushion during the final quarter until Burburan's second late conversion made it 10-8.
Extra-player efficiency separated the closing sequence. UC San Diego went 4-for-11 with an advantage; LMU finished 3-for-7. The raw totals favor the Tritons in opportunities, but the Lions used two when the match was tied and under three minutes remained. Both goalkeepers also stopped a five-meter penalty, removing a direct scoring chance from each side.
Alex Hegeman made 10 saves for UC San Diego. At the other end, Pablo De Souza stopped nine. The Tritons took 28 shots to LMU's 24, yet the four-shot edge did not become a scoreboard edge. Bence Barics matched Boettner with four goals, and Burburan supplied three. Finn Bugelli, Dusan Djordjevic, Christian Hammonds, Grant Kurtz and Lachlan Rossi also scored for UC San Diego.
Boettner and Hammonds have scored in all 13 UC San Diego matches this season. That consistency gave LMU more than one threat to contain, but the Lions kept the remaining Triton scorers to one goal apiece. With De Souza saving nine attempts, UC San Diego's volume never became the two-goal separation that could have insulated it from the late exclusions.
The loss moved the Tritons to 9-4 and LMU to 7-4. It also ended UC San Diego's two-year run in this rivalry after wins in 2024 and 2025, though the Tritons retain an 11-9 lead in the all-time series. A crowd of 982 watched the match turn on the discipline and execution of its last three minutes.
UC San Diego next hosts the Gary Troyer Tournament beginning October 2, followed by its Big West opener against Long Beach State on October 9. The correction is compact. The Tritons created more shots, held an early lead and erased LMU's first fourth-quarter advantage. Two exclusions after the equalizer gave the Lions the exact matchup they wanted, and Burburan did not miss it.