STOCKTON, California – First place in the Golden Coast Conference was on the line on Saturday afternoon, and after a high-scoring contest, #4 Pacific defeated the #10 Pepperdine men's water polo team 18-13.
The Waves (11-10, 1-1) never led after the Tigers (17-3, 2-0) scored the first four goals of the game.
BIG WAVES
- Graduate attacker Dennis Blyashov (Carlsbad, Calif./Harvard) and junior center defender Nico Tierney (Sierra Madre, Calif./Harvard-Westlake HS) both scored three goals for the Waves.
- Junior attacker Anthony D'Ambra (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) and senior attacker Curtis Jarvis (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) each scored a pair of goals. D'Ambra also had three assists.
GAME RECAP
After the Tigers scored four goals in the first 5+ minutes, the Waves were forced to play catch-up the entire way. D'Ambra netted the Waves' first goal of the game 5 1/2 minutes in. That started a run of three straight goals, putting the Waves within one at 4-3 late in the first quarter. But Pacific then ran off five straight goals to go up 9-3 before Blyashov scored twice midway through the second quarter.
It was 11-6 at halftime, and Pacific scored the first two goals after the break. The Tigers led 15-8 heading to the final quarter. Pepperdine won the fourth quarter with five goals (two of them by Tierney) to Pacific's three to narrow the final margin.
PAC 5-6-4-3---18
PEPP 3-3-2-5---13
Pepperdine goals: Dennis Blyashov 3,
Nico Tierney 3,
Anthony D'Ambra 2,
Curtis Jarvis 2,
Sandor Gal 1,
Christian Hosea 1,
Matty Walsh 1.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine has two non-conference home games next week, as the Waves will face #12 Princeton on Tuesday (Oct. 18) at 2 p.m. and #5 USC on Saturday (Oct. 22) at 12 p.m. Both games will be streamed on the WCC Network.
