REDLANDS, Calif. – The #8 Pepperdine men's water polo team finished off a nice weekend with three more wins on Sunday. Balazs Kosa continued his stellar play, averaging a hat trick in every game on Sunday for a total of nine goals.

The Waves defeated #7 Long Beach State (5-2) in the first game of the day 10-8. Pepperdine then faced Air Force, defeating the Falcons (5-2) 10-2 before finishing the day off against Redlands (4-5), winning 12-10.

PEPPERIDNE 10, LONG BEACH STATE 8
Kosa got off to a hot start for the Waves in the opening quarter, scoring the first two goals of the game. His two goals in the first were all the Waves got, as the Beach answered with two goals to tie the game going into the second quarter.

In the second, the Waves got goals from Kaden Kaneko (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) and Austin Smit (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) to retake a 4-2 lead. After a goal from the Beach, Kosa completed his hat trick and Curtis Jarvis (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) got his first of the game to give the Waves a 6-3 lead. Marko Asic (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) got in on the action after another Beach goal, giving the Waves a 7-5 lead at the half.

The Waves got just a single goal in the third, from George Mooney (Whittier, Calif./La Serna HS), but took an 8-7 lead into the final quarter. Long Beach State tied the game at eight to open the fourth before Kosa and Jarvis gave the Waves two goals to win the game.

STATS
SCORING: PEPP—2—5—1—2—10 ; LBSU—2—2—3—1—8
GOALS: PEPP— Kosa (4), Jarvis (2), Asic, Kaneko, Mooney, Smit ; LBSU— Morris (2), Stewart (2), Zaan (2), Spence, Wong
SAVES: PEPP— McKenney (8) ; LBSU— Darwish (11)

PEPPERDINE 10, AIR FORCE 2
In the day's second game, the Waves stayed hot, with Jarvis and Asic combining for the game's first three goals before the Falcons scored a goal of their own. At the end of the quarter, Asic had his second goal off of a five-meter conversion to give the Waves a 4-1 lead after one quarter of play. Air Force got their second goal before Kosa put the Waves up 5-2 going into half time.

In the second half, it was all Waves. Mate Toth (Balatonalmadi, Hungary/Szilagyi Erszebet Boarding School) opened up the scoring and was followed by Asic, Mooney and Xavier Marco (Atherton, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep), who got his first collegiate goal and gave the Waves a 9-2 lead going into the final frame. Marco scored his second goal of the game to solidify the 10-2 victory.

STATS
SCORING: PEPP—4—1—4—1—10 ; AF—1—1—0—0—2
GOALS: PEPP— Asic (3), Jarvis (2), X. Marco (2), Kosa, Mooney, Toth ; AF— Andres, Jones
SAVES: PEPP— McKenney (10), Emden (1) ; AF— Tolbert (9)
PEPPERDINE 12, REDLANDS 10

In the day's third and final game, Toth, Kaneko and Sean Ferrari (Redwood City, Calif./St. Francis HS) each scored to give the Waves a quick 3-0 lead. The Bulldogs scored twice to get within a goal, but Toth got his second, and Kosa converted a five-meter right before the quarter ended to give the Waves a 5-2 lead heading into the second quarter.

The second quarter started with a Bulldog goal but was responded to by goals from Kosa and Coleman Carpenter (Pleasant Hill, Calif./College Park HS) to push the lead up to 7-3. Ferrari got his second of the game just before half to take an 8-4 lead into the break.

Toth got the second half with a goal but was followed by two Bulldog scores to cut the Waves lead to 9-6. The Waves got three straight goals from Kosa, Mooney and Jarvis to take a six-goal cushion at 12-6. The cushion turned out to be enough as the Waves did not score in the fourth quarter, but defense and a strong effort from freshman Kent Emden (Chicago, Ill./Naperville Central HS) in goal gave the Waves their third victory of the day.

STATS
SCORING: PEPP—5—3—4—0—12 ; UR—2—2—3—3—10
GOALS: PEPP— Kosa (3), Toth (3), Ferrari (2), Carpenter, Jarvis, Kaneko, Mooney ; UR— Allen (2), Cole (2), Kerwin (2), Swan (2), Frejlach, Krause
SAVES: PEPP— Emden (9) ; UR— Martinez (7)

UP NEXT
The Waves are back in action this Thursday, taking on Ottawa University of Arizona and UC Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara.