STOCKTON, Calif. – The #8 Pepperdine men's water polo team did not hold a lead until the fourth quarter, but the Waves were able to come back and defeat #19 Loyola Marymount 19-15 in the opening round of the West Coast Conference Tournament at Eberhardt Aquatics Center on Friday morning.
 
The Waves (21-7) outshot the Lions (9-16) .500 to .469, while assisting on 15 of their 19 scores. This was Pepperdine's first win in a conference tournament game since 2019.
 
BIG WAVES

• Junior attacker Adam Csapo (Budapest, Hungary) had a season-high six goals and four assists for a total of 10 points.
• Junior attacker Sandor Gal (Budapest, Hungary) dished out three assists and scored once.
• Fifth year attacker Christian Hosea (San Clemente, Calif.) tallied five goals and four drawn exclusions.
• Freshman attacker Erik Ionescu (Budapest, Hungary) posted a hat-trick.
• Freshman utility Owen Tift (Newport Beach, Calif.) collected three assists and one goal. 

RECAP
 
The Lions took an early 1-0 lead on the first possession of the game, but Hosea knotted the contest 1-1 shortly after. Loyola Marymount then went on a three-goal run to take a 4-1 lead. However, Hosea continued to find success on offense as he scored back-to-back goals to earn his 14th hat-trick of the year and make it a 4-3 game in favor of the opposition. The Lions then found the back of the cage on their last possession of the quarter to take a 5-3 lead into the second period.
 
Loyola Marymount stretched their lead up to four with two-straight goals to open the second quarter, 7-3. Hosea then brought Pepperdine back within three with a penalty goal with 5:36 left in the half. The two teams traded goals through the next two minutes as Adam Csapo (Budapest, Hungary) and Erik Ionescu (Budapest, Hungary) both found the back of the net. Ionescu then scored his second straight goal to make it a 9-7 game in favor of the Lions. Csapo converted a penalty opportunity, but Loyola Marymount held a 10-8 lead at the break.
 
Sandor Gal (Budapest Hungary) and Conor Brough (Dana Point, Calif.) opened the second half with back-to-back goals to tie the game for the first time since the opening minutes, 10-all. The Lions then regained their footing with back-to-back scores, but Pepperdine continued to fight. Csapo and Hosea ended the period with two more goals for the Waves to make it a 12-12 game with eight minutes to play.
 
Jackson Benners (Dallas, Texas) gave Pepperdine its first lead of the game as he scored a goal to open the final period, but the Lions battled back and tied the game 13-13. Ionescu then earned his hat-trick to put Pepperdine up 14-13 with 6:23 left in the game before Csapo converted a penalty goal to increase the Waves lead to two. Milo Joseph (Malibu, Calif.) scored Pepperdine's third-straight goal before Csapo scored his fifth and sixth goal of the game to cap the Waves five-goal run and give them an 18-13 advantage with 1:55 left to play. Pepperdine would ultimately defeat Loyola Marymount 19-15 to move on to the semifinals of the WCC Tournament.
 
Csapo led the way for Pepperdine with a season-high six goals, while Hosea and Ionescu also earned hat-tricks on the day.
 
LMU 5-5-2-3 — 15
PEPP 3-5-4-7 — 19
 
Pepperdine goals: Adam Csapo 6, Christian Hosea 5, Erik Ionescu 3, Jackson Benners 1, Conor Brough 1, Sandor Gal 1, Milo Joseph 1, Owen Tift 1.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Waves will take on #13 San Jose State in the WCC Tournament semifinals at 11 a.m. tomorrow. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ and have live stats. Links to follow along can be found on the water polo team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
 
FOLLOW
 
Follow @PeppWaterPolo on X for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/PeppWaterPolo) for releases and more information. Find the Waves on Instagram @peppwaterpolo.