MALIBU, Calif. — Extending its stretch of solid play at home, the #4 Pepperdine men's water polo team beat Cal Maritime 30-3 in the morning, then competed in a hard-fought contest and pulled out a 17-10 win over Cal State Fullerton on Sunday evening.
In the first game against Cal Maritime, the Waves (9-1) showed off their offense and found the back of the net 30 times for the third time in program history. The Waves then outshot the Titans (7-5) .447 to .357 leading to a 17-10 win. Pepperdine has now won four straight at home going into a highly competitive MPSF Invite next week.
BIG WAVES
- In the first game sophomore attacker Conor Brough (Dana Point, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS) had a career-high seven goals along with a season-high five assists.
- Against Cal Maritime, sophomore utility Milo Joseph (Malibu, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS) had a hat trick in the second quarter and tallied a total of four goals while also picking up an assist.
- Senior attacker Christian Hosea (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente HS) led the way in scoring with four goals against the Titans.
- Graduate goalie Antonio Knez (Dubvronik, Croatia/Gimnazija Dubrovnik/Princeton) had five saves and didn't allow a goal in his one quarter of play against Cal Maritime. He also posted a .500 save percentage against the Titans in the second game.
GAME #1 RECAP
The Waves jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first minute after goals from
Matty Walsh and
Ryan Brosnan.
Antonio Knez had a stellar first quarter in goal, blanking the Keelhaulers and helping the Waves to a 8-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Pepperdine continued to showcase its powerful offense in the second period by scoring nine more times in the quarter. The period was highlighted by
Milo Joseph and
Conor Brough who both scored twice, giving Pepperdine a 17-0 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was highlighted by
Zach Cwiertnia, who held Cal Maritime scoreless in the period. In the fourth quarter,
Conor Brough had a hat trick to give him a game-high seven goals, which is also a season best. A total of 13 Waves scored in the 30-3 game.
CSUM 0-0-0-3 — 3
PEPP 8-9-7-6 —30
Pepperdine goals: Conor Brough 7,
Milo Joseph 4,
Dane Howell 3,
Andrew Outcalt 3,
Adam Csapo 2,
Curtis Jarvis 2,
Clay Kaneko 2,
Chase Wilson 2,
Adam Humbert 1,
Kaden Kaneko 1,
Ryan Reagan 1,
Tanner Turrall 1,
Matty Walsh 1.
GAME #2 RECAP
Pepperdine jumped out to an early lead by scoring three goals in the first minute and a half, two by
Christian Hosea and another one by
Matty Walsh. The Titans countered with a goal of their own, but the Waves continued to find the back of the net thanks to a pair of goals from
Nico Tierney to give them a 7-3 lead at the end of the quarter.
Chase Wilson and
Adam Csapo scored early in the second period to extend Pepperdine's lead to 9-3. Cal State Fullerton countered by scoring three straight goals to cut Pepperdine's lead to 9-6 going into the break.
The Waves started the third quarter by scoring five straight goals from
Chase Wilson,
Christian Hosea,
Ryan Brosnan,
Milo Joseph and
Matty Walsh to bring their lead to 14-6. Pepperdine held Cal State Fullerton to just one goal in the period and took a 15-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
A slow paced fourth quarter that only saw five goals in total favored the Waves, and Pepperdine ultimately won the contest 17-10.
Christian Hosea led Pepperdine with four goals, and a total of nine Waves scored in the game.
CSUF 3-3-1-3—10
PEPP 7-2-6-2—17
Pepperdine goals: Christian Hosea 4, Nico Tierney 3, Ryan Brosnan 2, Matty Walsh 2, Chase Wilson 2, Adam Csapo 1, Milo Joseph 1, Kaden Kanenko 1, Andrew Outcalt 1
UP NEXT
The Waves will compete in the MPSF Invite, held at UCLA next week. Pepperdine will play UC San Diego first on Sept. 22 at 1:30 p.m., then will head into bracket play.
