MALIBU, Calif. – Curtis Jarvis scored five goals, and Balazs Kosa added four goals and five assists in Pepperdine water polo's 17-10 win over San José State on Saturday.
With the win, the Waves have a 2-0 lead over the Spartans in the Gold Coast Conference's best-of-five series. The Waves will head to San José State to finish off the series from March 6-7.
GAME RECAP
San José State took an early 1-0 lead after scoring on its first possession, but the Waves responded with a 4-0 run. Jarvis (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) got Pepperdine on the board at the 5:57 mark, then Sean Ferrari (Redwood City, Calif./St. Francis HS) gave the Waves a lead they would never relinquish.
After assisting on Pepperdine's first two goals, Kosa (Csik Ferenc Általános Iskola és Gimnázium) scored a goal of his own off of a Nico Tierney (Sierra Madre, Calif./Harvard-Westlake HS) assist as the shot clock expired. Travis Reynolds (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif./Loyola HS), then the Spartans responded, but Ferrari notched his second goal of the quarter with 13 seconds left to give Pepperdine a 5-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Pepperdine's balanced performance in the second quarter gave the Waves a commanding lead. Jarvis opened the scoring in the quarter off another Kosa assist, but then both teams couldn't find the back of the net. Led by goalie John Claude Marco's efforts, the Waves' defense put the clamps down on the Spartans. Kaden Kaneko (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) snapped the drought with a goal at the 4:24 mark, which opened the floodgates for the Waves' attack. Jake Howerton (Cardiff, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) scored on back-to-back possessions, then found a wide-open Jarvis with under a minute to go to make the score 10-2, Pepperdine.
The Spartans rallied in the second half by scoring four goals in three minutes to make the score 10-6. Jarvis started the scoring for Pepperdine once again, then Kosa scored on a five-meter penalty shot after drawing two exclusions on the same play. The Spartans responded with a goal of their own, but Christian Hosea (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente HS) found the back of the net with under a minute to go in the frame.
Pepperdine had a 13-8 lead going into the fourth quarter. Kosa and Tierney kicked off the scoring for the Waves, then San José State's Finn Pardon scored a pair of goals to make the score 15-10. But the Spartans wouldn't get closer. Jarvis scored on a power play with 2:40 to go, then Kosa connected on his second five-meter penalty shot of the day to give Pepperdine a 17-10 lead.
STATS
SCORING: PEPP—5—5—3—4—17 ; SJSU—2—0—6—2—10
GOALS: PEPP— Jarvis (5), Kosa (4), Howerton (2), Ferrari (2), Reynolds, Kaneko, Hosea, Tierney ; SJSU— Arnett (3), Pardon (3), Hofmeijer (2), Hauschild (2)
SAVES: PEPP— Marco (11) ; SJSU— Smith (2), Pendleton (3)
NEXT UP: The Waves will host Loyola Marymount on Saturday, March 13. The game will start at 11 a.m.
