Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 MALIBU, Calif. – The #4 Pepperdine men's water polo team opened its 2020-21 campaign with two wins over #14 Air Force on Saturday, winning the first game 16-9 and the second game 12-7.
The Waves (2-0) led the Falcons (0-2) throughout the entire day, led by
Balazs Kosa (Csik Ferenc Általános Iskola és Gimnázium) with nine goals on the day.
GAME 1 RECAP
The Falcons scored the first goal of the day, but the Waves answered quickly, scoring the next four goals. Three were from Kosa, including a penalty shot, and the fourth was from
Kaden Kaneko (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS), giving the Waves a 4-1 lead after the first quarter. Air Force scored first in the second quarter, but
Nico Tierney (Sierra Madre, Calif./Harvard Westlake HS) and
Anthony D'Ambra (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) answered to give Pepperdine a 6-2 lead at the half.
The second half was much of the same, as the Waves got goals from
Jake Howerton (Cardiff, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS), Kosa and
Austin Smit (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) to take a 9-3 lead. Kosa got his sixth goal at the end of the third, and
Michael Dakis (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS) to give the Waves a 10-4 lead after three quarters of play. In the fourth, the Waves got goals from Kosa, Smit,
Sean Ferrari (Redwood City, Calif./St. Francis HS)
Travis Reynolds (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif./Loyola HS) and goalie
Kent Emden (Chicago, Ill./Naperville Central HS) to seal the victory.
STATS
GAME 1
SCORING: PEP—4—2—5—5—16 ; USAF—1—1—2—5—9
GOALS: PEP— Kosa (7), Howerton (2), Smit (2), D'Ambra, Dakis, Emden, Ferrari, Reynolds ;
USAF— Hiroji (3), Sak (2), Fuller, Snyder, Tanis, Yavitt
GAME 2 RECAP
Game two started much the same way as the first, as the Waves jumped out to an early lead. Tierney scored first. Kaneko then gave the Waves a 2-0 lead.
Max Sprute (Van Nuys, Calif./Notre Dame HS) then scored and the Waves led 3-1 after the first quarter.
Nicholas Fichmann (Sāo Paolo, Brazil/Orange Coast College) opened the second quarter with a goal and Ferrari followed to give the Waves a four-goal lead. After a Falcons goal, Sprute got his second goal. Ferrari and Reynolds scored back-to-back goals to end the half, giving the Waves a 7-3 lead.
Kosa got his first goal of the game in the third quarter, and Fichmann got his second right before the end to give the Waves a 9-6 lead after three quarters of play. In the fourth, Kosa scored after two Falcons goas, and Ferrari got his third of the game to cement the 12-7 win.
STATS
GAME 2
SCORING: PEP—3—4—3—2—12 ; USAF—1—2—3—1—7
GOALS: PEP— Ferrari (3), Fichmann (2), Kosa (2), Sprute (2), Kaneko, Tierney ;
USAF— Fuller (2), Snyder (2), Hires, Sak, Yavitt
SAVES: PEP— Marco (7);
USAF— Kuypers (9)
UP NEXT
The Waves hit the road next weekend, taking on #3 UCLA on Saturday at 11 a.m.
