LA JOLLA, Calif. – The Pepperdine men's water polo team began its season at the Triton Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego, on Saturday. The Waves picked up a 12-7 win against Pomona-Pitzer to start the tournament, but fell 11-5 to UC Santa Barbara in the second game of the day.
Sophomore
Balazs Kosa (Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Általános Iskola És Gimnázium) led the way for the Waves with a hat trick in the game against Pomona.
PEPPERDINE 10, POMONA-PITZER 7
The year's first game got off to a slow start, with each team putting just goal on the board in the first quarter. Kosa got the Waves' first goal of the season to secure a 1-1 tie at the end of the first.
Kosa scored the Waves' lone goal in the second quarter as well, as the teams went into halftime locked at two goals apiece.
In the second half, the Waves' offense really got going.
Marko Asic (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) and
Kaden Kaneko (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) each scored their first goals of the season, and Kosa finished off his hat trick in the third, giving the Waves a 5-3 lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Pepperdine took off in the fourth quarter, getting seven goals from six players.
Curtis Jarvis (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS)led the way with two goals coming late in the final quarter. Kaneko got his second goal, as did Asic and
Sean Ferrari (Redwood City, Calif./St. Francis HS)
, Michael Dakis (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS) and
Sean Thomas (Covina, Calif./Loyola HS) each put balls in the back of the net to secure the 12-7 win for the Waves.
STATS
SCORING: PEPP—1—1—3—7—12 ;
PP –1—1—1—4—7
GOALS: PEPP— Kosa 3, Asic 2, Jarvis 2 Kaneko 2, Dakis, Ferrari, Thomas ;
PP— B. Sasaki 2, Bethel, Gross, Mallery, S. Sasaki, Schafer
SAVES: PEPP— Marco 2 ;
PP— Kelbert 7
PEPPERIDNE 5, UC SANTA BARBARA 11
In the second game of the day, the Waves took on the Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara. The first quarter was all UC Santa Barbara, as they scored three unanswered goals to start the game before
Mate Toth (Balatonalmadi, Hungary/Szilagyi Erszebet Boarding School) got the Waves on the board. After one quarter of play, the Gauchos lead 4-1.
Asic started the second quarter off hot for the Waves, getting them within two at the start of the quarter.
Coleman Carpenter (Pleasant Hill, Calif./College Park HS) got the Waves to within one before UCSB answered.
Austin Smit (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) again got the Waves to within one goal near the end of the quarter. The Gauchos scored two unanswered goals to end the half with a 7-4 lead.
In the third quarter, the Gauchos kept the Waves from scoring, and scored twice more to take a 9-4 lead into the final quarter of play.
George Mooney (Whittier, Calif./La Serna HS) scored the Waves' only goal in the final period of play.
STATS
SCORING: PEPP— 1—3—0—1—5 ;
UCSB – 3—4—2—2—11
GOALS: PEPP— Asic, Carpenter, Mooney, Smit, Toth ;
UCSB— Hawkins 2, Nangle 2, Brosnan, Loft, Gvozdanic, Halle, McQuet, Peoples, Puentes
UP NEXT
The Waves continue in the Triton Invitational tomorrow, with opponents and times still to be announced.
