STOCKTON, Calif. – The No. 4 Pepperdine men's water polo team has reached the national semifinal after defeating UC Davis 15-12 on Thursday afternoon.
Chris Dilworth led all scorers with six goals.
The Waves (24-7) led for most of the game, trailing for just four minutes and 21 seconds in the first half, When the Aggies (16-8) held one goal leads.
GAME RECAP
The Waves got the game started quickly, as Dilworth (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks HS) scored the first goal just 25 seconds into the game. The Aggies took the lead after two straight goals before
Kaden Kaneko (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) tied the game at two goals apiece.
Balazs Kosa (Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Általános Iskola És Gimnázium) then scored to give the Waves a 3-2 lead after one quarter of play.
In the second, the Waves again scored first, as Dilworth got his second of the game to give the Waves a 4-2 lead. The Aggies got three goals in a row to take a 5-4 lead, but
Curtis Jarvis scored just a minute late to tie the game back at five. Kosa scored to retake the lead. He was followed by a goal from
Sean Thomas (Covina, Calif./Loyola HS) to give the Waves a 7-5 lead late in the half. Kosa converted a five-meter penalty with just one second left in the half, giving the Waves an 8-5 lead into the break.
After the break, Kosa scored his third of the game after a UC Davis goal. The Aggies then scored twice in a row to cut the Waves lead to 9-8. Pepperdine then scored three times in a row, twice from Dilworth, and once on a
Marko Asic (Aliso Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) penalty conversion. After UC Davis scored once more, the Waves led 12-9 leading into the final eight minutes of play.
The Aggies scored three times to start the fourth and tie it up, but goals from Dilworth and
Sean Ferrari (Redwood City, Calif./St. Francis HS) put the game away, sending the Waves to the Final Four.
STATS
SCORING: PEPP—3—5—4—3—15 ; UCD—2—3—4—3—12
GOALS: PEPP— Dilworth (6), Kosa (4), Asic, Ferrari, Kaneko, Jarvis, Thomas ;
UCD— Gross (4), Tamblyn (3), Hanley (2), Stafford (2), Martel
SAVES: PEPP— J.C. Marco (8) ;
UCD— Addington (7)
UP NEXT
The Waves will take on Golden Coast Conference rival Pacific in the second semifinal on Saturday. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be live streamed through NCAA.com.
