LA JOLLA, Calif. - The No. 5 ranked Pepperdine men's water polo team went undefeated on the first day of the 2009 Triton Invitational.

The Waves (2-0) handily defeated Cal Lutheran 16-3, in the first game of the day. Senior Christian Cardey (Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly HS) and freshman Matt Brown (Bellevue, Wash./Brown Academy) led Pepperdine with three goals each.

"We started off slowly ending the first quarter up by one at 2-3," said assistant coach Gary O'Brien. "Then our defense made sure the Cal Lutheran didn't score another goal until the last three minutes of the game. Our offense went on a 12 goal run."

O'Brien credited the win to the hard work the Waves put in during preseason.

"We were in way better physical shape than Cal Lutheran," said O'Brien. "Matt Brown and Christian Cardey led the offense and Cardey played excellent defense as well."

Pepperdine came back at 4 p.m. to play tournament host No. 10 UC San Diego in its second game of the tournament.

Seniors JP MacDonell (Redwood City, Calif./Bellarmine Prep) and Taylor Watson (Alamo, Calif./Monte Vista HS) scored three goals a piece to lead the Waves to a 12-10 win over the Tritons. Pepperdine led the entire match.

"UCSD was definitely a more difficult opponent," said O'Brien. "Our 6-on-6 defense was excellent, but we played poorly on our 5-meter defense. Nine-out-of 10 of the Tritons goals were scored on 6-on-5 opportunities. In the end we finished with a win."

O'Brien credited his two freshman goalies, Thomas O'Connell (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) and Mathew Carter (Princeton, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) with excellent games in the net as they made their debut as Waves.

The Waves meet UC Santa Barbara Sunday at 12 p.m. at the Coggan Family Aquatic Center, in La Jolla, Calif.

GAME 1: PEPPERDINE 15 CAL LUTHERAN 3

                 1      2      3      4

PEP          3      5      3      5      16

CLU          2      0      0      1       3

PEP GOALS: (M. Brown 3, C. Cardey 3, P. Lujan 2, JP MacDonell 2, L. Nordt 1,  T. Gough 1, B. Auer 1, S. Busby 1, T. Watson 1, J. Young 1)

CLU GOALS: (M. Heagy 3)

GAME 2: PEPPERDINE 12 UC SAN DIEGO 10

                 1      2      3      4

PEP          6      1      3      2       12

UCSD       3      2      3      2       10

PEP GOALS: (JP MacDonell 3, T. Watson 3, J. Young 2, B. Auer 1, C. Cardey 1, C. Snyder 1, P. Lujan 1)

UCSD GOALS: (S. Cruz 3, S. Roberts 2, K. Lohse 2, C. James 1, S. Donahoe 1, M. Bousback 1)