Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 LA JOLLA, California – The #10 Pepperdine men's water polo team is into the semifinals at the Triton Invitational after two opening-day wins, including a record-breaking performance in the first match and a nail-biting overtime victory in the second on Saturday.
The Waves (2-0) began the tournament by routing Whittier 34-5, setting a school record for goals in a game. Later in the evening, they edged the tournament hosts, #13 UC San Diego, 16-15 in overtime.
BIG WAVES
- Freshman attacker Adam Csapo (Budapest, Hungary) had a big debut with a total of 11 goals on the day, including seven in the nightcap against the Tritons.
- Senior attacker Curtis Jarvis (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) had three goals against UCSD, including the game-winner with about a minute left in overtime.
- Graduate attacker Dennis Blyashov (Carlsbad, Calif./Harvard), junior attacker Anthony D'Ambra (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) and junior attacker Christian Hosea (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente HS) all had six goals on the day.
- Freshman goalie Zach Cwiertnia (Villa Park, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic HS) got the start in both games to earn his first two career wins.
GAME #1 RECAP
Six different Waves had a hat trick and 12 Pepperdine players in all scored against the Division III Poets. D'Ambra scored three in each half en route to a career-high six goals, and Blyashov notched all five of his goals in the first half in his debut. The previous record for goals in a game was 31 against Occidental in the 1997 national championship season.
WU 1-1-2-1---5
PEPP 9-10-9-6---34
Pepperdine goals: Anthony D'Ambra 6,
Dennis Blyashov 5,
Adam Csapo 4,
Christian Hosea 4,
Nicholas Fichman 3,
Austin Smit 3,
Rocco Cuttone 2,
Xavier Marco 2,
Travis Reynolds 2,
Sandor Gal 1,
Andrew Outcalt 1,
Matty Walsh 1.
GAME #2 RECAP
The Waves led for the entire first half, though UC San Diego took its first lead late in the third period at 7-6. The Waves were still behind 8-7 when they scored the next four goals to take the biggest lead of the game at 11-8 with less than five minutes remaining in regulation. UCSD scored five goals on five straight possessions, however, and went up 13-11 with under a minute to play. Hosea got one back with 34 seconds left, and after forcing a turnover, Pepperdine sent the match to overtime on a Csapo goal with 10 seconds left.
Csapo and senior center
Nicholas Fichman (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Orange Coast College) put the Waves up by two at 15-13 in the first overtime period, but the Tritons tied the contest at 15 with a minute and a half left in the second overtime. Jarvis came through with the go-ahead goal with 1:05 to go, and Pepperdine's defense got stops on each of UCSD's final two possessions.
UCSD 2-1-5-5-1-1---15
PEPP 3-2-4-4-2-1---16
Pepperdine goals: Adam Csapo 7,
Curtis Jarvis 3,
Christian Hosea 2,
Dennis Blyashov 1,
Nicholas Fichman 1,
Travis Reynolds 1,
Nico Tierney 1.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine will face #2 USC in the semifinals on Sunday morning at 10:45 a.m. at Triton Pool. The other semifinal has UCLA facing UC Davis. The championship is at 2:45 p.m. at Triton Pool, while the third-place game will be at 2:45 p.m. at Canyonview Pool.
