SAN JOSE, Calif. – Coming off one of the biggest wins of the year, the No. 7 Pepperdine men's water polo team defeated San Jose State in a close 10-9 victory.
Chris Dilworth and
Curtis Jarvis led the Waves with three goals.
The Waves (14-5) and Spartans (3-11) will meet again at the end of the year in Golden Coast Conference play.
GAME RECAP
The Waves got the scoring started, as Dilworth (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks) scored the game's first goal. After two straight goals from the Spartans,
Austin Smit (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) tied the game at two.
George Mooney (Whittier, Calif./La Serna HS) and Dilworth went back to back, pushing the Waves' lead to 4-2 at the end of the first quarter. In the second period,
Sean Ferrari (Redwood City, Calif./St. Francis HS) and
Mate Toth (Balatonalmadi, Hungary/Szilagyi Erszebet Boarding School) scored for the Waves, and San Jose scored twice to give the Waves a 6-4 lead at the half.
The Spartans scored three goals in a row to start the second half, tying the game at six. Jarvis (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) scored his first goal of the game to give the Waves a 7-6 lead. San Jose scored twice in a row to take an 8-7 lead before Jarvis scored again to tie the game at 8 just before the end of the third.
Marko Asic (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) scored to start the fourth for the Waves, retaking the lead at 9-8.
Balazs Kosa (Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Általános Iskola És Gimnázium) then scored his first to give the Waves a 10-8 lead with three minutes left. San Jose State answered to cut the lead back to one goal. The Spartans had a 6-on-5 advantage, but solid defense as time expired prevented San Jose from scoring, and secured the 10-9 victory for the Waves.
STATS
SCORING: PEPP—4—2—2—2—10 ; SJSU—2—2—4—1—9
GOALS: PEPP— Dilworth (2), Jarvis (2), Asic, Ferrari, Kosa, Mooney, Smit, Toth ;
SJSU— Weber (3), Arnett, Bado, Burgess, Karhan, Pardon, Pickering
SAVES: PEPP— Emden (10) ;
SJSU— Fire (13)
UP NEXT
The Waves will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 18 as they travel to UC Irvine for a 6 p.m. matchup. Then on Saturday, Oct. 19, Pepperdine will host USC at noon.
