SAN JOSE, Calif. – The #5 Pepperdine men's water polo team clinched its second consecutive Golden Coast Conference championship and third overall on Saturday, defeating San Jose State 11-8 in game one before falling 11-8 in game two.
The Waves (11-2) are the first GCC team to win back-to-back championships, and have the most overall championships of any team in the conference.
GAME ONE RECAP
The Waves got the first goal of the first game, a Balazs Kosa (Csik Ferenc Általános Iskola és Gimnázium) ball that found the back of the net. After the Spartans tied the game, Curtis Jarvis (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) scored the second goal of the day for the Waves, giving Pepperdine a 2-1 lead through one quarter. In the second, it was more of the same, as Kaden Kaneko (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) pushed the Waves lead to 3-1. The Spartans scored two unanswered goals to tie the game before Nicholas Fichmann (São Paolo, Brazil, Orange Coast College) scored his only goal of the game to retake the lead for the Waves at 4-3. San Jose State took the lead with two straight goals before Christian Hosea (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente HS) tied the game at 5 just before halftime.
Michael Dakis (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS) gave the Waves a 6-5 lead just two minutes into the third quarter. After San Jose State answered, Kaneko got his second goal of the game to take a 7-6 lead through three quarters of play. Austin Smit (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) made it 8-6. Hosea scored his second of the game, pushing the lead to 9-6. Sean Ferrari (Redwood City, Calif./St. Francis HS) made it 10-7 and Kaneko finished off his hat trick to secure the 11-8 victory in game one for the Waves.
STATS
SCORING: PEPP—2—3—2—4—11 ; SJSU—1—4—1—2—8
GOALS: PEPP— Kaneko (3), Hosea (2), Dakis, Ferrari, Fichmann, Jarvis, Kosa, Smit ; SJSU— Kis (2), Hauschild (2), Pardon (2), Haimovich, MacMillan
SAVES: PEPP— Emden (10) ; SJSU— Fire (8)
GAME 2 RECAP
Game two got off to a slow start, as each team only scored a single goal in the first. Hosea put the Waves up early, but the Spartans scored to tie the game at one through eight minutes of play. Jarvis opened scoring in the second quarter, converting a power play to put the Waves up 2-1. After the Spartans tied the game, Fichmann got his first goal of the game and second of the day to retake the lead at 3-2. San Jose State tied the game yet again at 3-3 before half.
The Spartans opened the second half, taking the lead 4-3 before Hosea scored his second of the contest to tie the game at four. The Spartans took the lead with three unanswered goals, and led 7-4 after three periods of play. San Jose State scored to open the fourth quarter, pushing the Spartans' lead to 8-4. Ferrari scored to cut the lead to 8-5, and Jarvis scored twice in a row to get the Waves to within a goal. The Spartans scored again with just two minutes to play to take a 9-7 lead. Another goal for the Spartans extended the lead to 10-7. Kosa got his first goal of the second game with under a minute left, getting the Waves to within two goals, but San Jose State got a final goal with 30 seconds left to secure the 11-8 victory.
STATS
SCORING: PEPP—1—2—1—4—8 ; SJSU—1—2—4—4—11
GOALS: PEPP— Jarvis (3), Hosea (2), Ferrari, Fichmann, Kosa ; SJSU— Pardon (3), Kis (2), Haimovich (2), Aguirre, Fire, Hofmeijer, Macmillan
SAVES: PEPP— Emden (18) ; SJSU: Fire (11)
UP NEXT
The Waves and Spartans are back at it tomorrow afternoon, as the Waves close out the regular season. The game is scheduled to start at noon.
