LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Golden Coast Conference Championships came to a close on Sunday with the No. 7 Pepperdine men's water polo team taking third place after defeating UC Irvine 10-8 in the final game of the season. Balazs Kosa had four goals for the Waves. 

GAME RECAP

The first period of play was even, as both teams scored twice. Irvine started the scoring, followed by Kosa's (Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Általános Iskola És Gimnázium) first goal. Sean Ferrari (Redwood City, Calif./St. Francis HS) scored the second goal of the period for the Waves. After one, the game was tied at two.

Irvine started the scoring in the second period as well, but the Waves quickly took the game over. Kosa scored his second of the game, tying the game at 3, the start of four straight goals for the Waves. Mate Toth (Balatonalmadi, Hungary/Szilagyi Erzsebet Boarding School), Sam Paur (Poway, Calif./Poway HS) and Curtis Jarvis (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) gave the Waves a 6-3 lead going into the half.

The third quarter was much like the first, with each team scoring twice. Kosa finished his hat trick, and Michael Dakis (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS) added a goal of his own. After three quarters of play, the Waves led 8-5.

In the final period of play, Irvine started the quarter with two straight goals to bring the game to within a goal. Dakis got his second goal of the day to extend the lead to two. After another Irvine goal brought the game to back within a goal, Kosa got his fourth goal of the game to seal the third-place victory for the Waves.

STATS

Scoring: Pepp: 2—4—2—2—10 ; UCI: 2—1—2—3—8

Goals: Pepp: Kosa (4), Dakis (2), Ferrari, Jarvis, Paur, Toth ; UCI: Evezard )4_, Trush (2), Gornay, Polos

Saves: Pepp – Marco: 17 ; UCI: Rivers: 8