LOS ANGELES – The #6 Pepperdine men's water polo team opened up play at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Invite on Friday, defeating UC San Diego 12-8 in the team's opening game.
Balazs Kosa led the Waves with three goals.
The Waves (10-3) beat the Tritons (7-5) for the third time this year and take on the nation's top-ranked team in UC Santa Barbara on Saturday morning.
GAME RECAP
The Tritons had the upper hand to start the game, scoring twice to open the scoring. Kosa (Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Általános Iskola És Gimnázium) got the Waves on the board first to cut the lead to one. After another UC San Diego score,
Mate Toth (Balatonalmadi, Hungary/Szilagyi Erszebet Boarding School) again got the Waves within one before
George Mooney (Whittier, Calif./La Serna HS) tied the game before the end of the first period.
Marko Asic (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) scored the lone goal for the Waves in the second, and the defense held the Tritons to just one goal, pushing the game to a 4-4 tie at the end of the first half.
UC San Diego started the second half with a goal to take the lead, but
Curtis Jarvis (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) and Kosa got back-to-back goals to give the Waves their first lead of the game at 6-5. Jarvis got his second, as did to give the Waves a three-goal cushion before UCSD answered just before the end of the third quarter, sending the game to the fourth with the Waves ahead 8-6. In the fourth,
Sean Ferrari (Redwood City, Calif./St. Francis HS) scored before Kosa finished off his hat trick to give the Waves a 10-6 lead.
Jacob Watson (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) scored his first goal of the season, and
Kaden Kaneko (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) got on the board to secure the 12-8 victory for the Waves.
STATS
SCORING: PEPP—3—1—4—4—12 ; UCSD—3—1—2—2—8
GOALS: PEPP— Kosa (3), Jarvis (2), Mooney (2), Asic, Ferrari, Kaneko, Watson ;
UCSD— Krmek (3), Carrillo, Likins, McManigal, Munatones, Ranj
SAVES: PEPP— McKenney (7) ;
UCSD— Turner (8)
UP NEXT
The Waves continue in the MPSF Invite on Saturday, taking on #1 UC Santa Barbara at 9:20 a.m. Pepperidne looks to get it's first win of the year over the Gauchos.
