UC Irvine Hands Pepperdine A 9-7 Loss Sunday Afternoon
10/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 17, 2004
In a battle of teams tied for eighth in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) poll, UC Irvine junior Dreason Barry scored five goals to lead the Anteaters past Pepperdine, 9-7, in non-conference match at the Anteater Aquatics Complex Sunday afternoon.
The loss dropped Pepperdine to 9-8 while UC Irvine improved to 9-8.
Barry's fourth goal of the game gave UCI a 5-1 lead with 5:05 remaining in the second quarter, but the Waves battled back, cutting the margin to 5-4 on a goal by Grant Miller with 3:04 left before halftime.
The Anteaters took a 7-5 lead at the half, but Pepperdine's Josh Acosta and Tom Jasper notched goals to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:08 left in the third quarter. Merlo scored an extra-man goal with 2:24 remaining in the that period and Barry scored his final goal of the game on a power play with 5:43 left in the fourth quarter.
Miller led the Waves with three goals and Jasper added two. UCI goalie Joe Wynne tied his career high with 14 saves, including five in the fourth quarter, and Pepperdine counterpart Robbie Miller stopped six shots.
The Waves are back home next weekend to host No. 2 Stanford on Saturday and top-ranked UCLA on Sunday. Both contests begin at noon.
Pepperdine ---- 1 - 4 - 2 - 0 --- 7
UC Irvine -------- 3 - 4 - 1 - 1 --- 9
Pep: G. Miller (3), Jasper (2), Stricklen, Acosta.
UCI: Barry (5), R. Merlo (2), Peters, Mello.
Saves: R. Miller (P) 6; Wynne (UCI) 14.
Records: No. 8 Pepperdine is 9-8 overall; No. 8 UCI is 9-8 overall.
