Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 MALIBU, California – The #10 Pepperdine men's water polo team split its first two home games of the season on Thursday, routing Westcliff 24-4 but falling to #5 UC Santa Barbara 12-9 in the nightcap.
The Waves (5-3) converted on 60% of their shot attempts against the Warriors (1-6), but the success rate dropped to 30% against the Gauchos (10-1).
BIG WAVES
- Sophomore attacker Christian Hosea (San Clements, Calif./San Clemente HS) had a team-high six goals on the day, including a career-high four against Westcliff.
- Sophomore center Travis Reynolds (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif./Loyola HS) scored a career-high three goals against Westcliff.
- Senior utility Sean Ferrari (Redwood City, Calif./St. Francis HS) scored twice against the Gauchos and became the 43rd player in school history to hit a milestone of 100 career goals. He also had four steals against UCSB.
- Senior goalie John Claude Marco (Atherton, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) had 16 saves against UCSB.
- Junior goalie Spencer Tybur (The Woodlands, Texas/Golden West College) made his Pepperdine debut and had six saves in three quarters versus Westcliff.
GAME #1 RECAP
Westcliff scored first, but there was little drama as the Waves rolled to an easy win after scoring a combined 18 goals in the second and third quarters. At 4-2 in the second quarter, Pepperdine scored the next 10 goals in a row. The Waves had 11 goals in the third quarter to take a 21-3 lead.
WU 1-1-1-1--4
PEPP 3-7-11-3--24
Pepperdine goals: Christian Hosea 4,
Travis Reynolds 3,
Connor Cohen 2,
Rocco Cuttone 2,
Jake Howerton 2,
Xavier Marco 2,
Kyle Thomas 2,
Anthony D'Ambra 1,
Nicholas Fichman 1,
Clay Kaneko 1,
Kaden Kaneko 1,
Balazs Kosa 1,
Max Sprute 1,
Nico Tierney 1.
GAME #2 RECAP
The Gauchos never trailed after scoring the first three goals of the game. It was 6-4 at halftime after Hosea scored both of his goals in the second quarter. But UCSB notched the first goals of the third quarter to push the advantage to 9-4. The Gauchos' lead grew to 12-6 in the fourth quarter before Pepperdine scored the game's final three goals.
UCSB 4-2-3-3--12
PEPP 1-3-1-4--9
Pepperdine goals: Sean Ferrari 2,
Christian Hosea 2,
Nico Tierney 2,
Nicholas Fichman 1,
Kaden Kaneko 1,
Balazs Kosa 1.
NOTABLE
- Kosa is now at 196 career goals, and is on the verge of becoming the 12th Wave ever to reach 200 goals.
- This was a non-conference game against the Gauchos. The Golden Coast Conference matchup is the regular-season finale on November 13 in Santa Barbara.
UP NEXT
The Waves play two more home games on Saturday (Sept. 18), facing Stanford at 1 p.m. and Princeton at 5:30 p.m. Both matches will be streamed via WaveCasts. Fans are welcomed back to
Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool but must pre-purchase their tickets online.
