Taking a trip to Southern California to continue their season, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's water polo team faced a challenging series of matches at the 2024 Lancer Joust, competing in four matches over two days against NCAA opponents this weekend.
 
The Blues opened their tournament on October 11 in Fullerton, California, with a hard-fought 14-9 loss to the Concordia Golden Eagles. Concordia jumped ahead early with a five-goal first quarter, while Toronto struggled to close the gap despite strong performances from Omer Sayli and Cameron Hexter. Sayli led the Blues with a trio of goals, but the consistent offence from Concordia secured the victory.
 
Later that day, Toronto fell 13-11 in a nail-biter against the Cal State Fullerton Titans. Toronto came out strong with early goals from Tate Falconer and Bowen Moravek, but the Titans managed to edge the Blues in a thrilling contest. The Blues offence worked to keep Toronto within reach, but Fullerton's relentless attack sealed the win for them. Blues veteran Cameron Hexter contributed to the scoring with a pair of goals, while Glasser, Gonzalez Delgado, Principe and Reed contributed as well.  
 
On October 12, the Blues suffered a tough 19-8 defeat to the Saddleback Bobcats in Riverside, California. Moravek led Toronto's offence with three goals, while Gonzalez Delgado added two. Saddleback built an early lead and never looked back, as Toronto couldn't overcome their offensive onslaught. Aidan Principe, Cameron Hexter, and Tate Falconer each added individual goals to round out the scoring. 
 
In their final game of the weekend, the Varsity Blues earned a hard fought 11-10 overtime victory against the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds. Toronto fought back from an early deficit, with Hexter leading the charge with four goals. Senior Camilo Cortes added three goals to the scoresheet, and first-year attack Falconer added two. The match went into overtime, where Andrew Reed scored the game-winning goal, and goalie Ali Sayli made 12 critical saves to secure the win.
 
Despite the challenges, the Varsity Blues showed resilience throughout their California road trip, earning valuable experience against tough NCAA competition. The Blues next play away at Queen's University for the Queen's Invitational on the first weekend of November.