Box Score LOS ANGELES, Calif. – After falling behind early, the #4 Pepperdine men's water polo team held #20 California Baptist to just five goals in the last 24 minutes of the game en route to a 14-9 victory. 
 
The Waves outshot the Lancers .452 to .300 in the contest, while freshman goalie Max Smirnov posted a .571 save percentage, including two penalty shot saves.
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore utility Jon Carcarey (Santa Maria, Calif.) earned a hat-trick with three goals on four shots.
• Junior attacker Adam Csapo (Budapest, Hungary) dished out three assists in the game.
• Junior attacker Sandor Gal (Budapest, Hungary) tallied two goals and two assists today.
• Fifth year attacker Christian Hosea (San Clemente, Calif.) had a game-high four goals to go along with one assist against the Lancers.

RECAP
 
The Waves took an early 1-0 lead on their first offensive possession of the game as Hosea found the back of the net. The Lancers would then take a 2-1 lead, but Milo Joseph (Malibu, Calif.) tied the game 2-all halfway through the first quarter. After two more goals by California Baptist, Hosea converted a 6-on-5 opportunity thanks to an assist from Gal to bring Pepperdine within one after the first period.
 
The second quarter began with both teams getting multiple defensive stops, but Hosea and Carcarey eventually got the scoring going as they scored on back-to-back possessions to put the Waves in front 5-4. California Baptist would then tie the game, but Hosea quickly scored his fourth goal of the contest to give Pepperdine a one goal advantage at the break.
 
The Lancers evened the game 6-6 before a goal from Erik Ionescu (Budapest, Hungary) put the Waves back in front. After the game was tied yet again at 7-7, Chase Wilson (New York, N.Y.) would score twice in a row before another goal from Carcarey gave Pepperdine a 10-7 lead. A goal late in the third by California Baptist made it a two-goal game with eight minutes to play.
 
Gal opened the fourth quarter with a goal for the Waves, but the Lancers would respond to make it an 11-9 game in favor of Pepperdine with 6:09 to go. Behind multiple saves from Smirnov, the Waves were able to hold the Lancers scoreless over the final six minutes of play while they also tacked on three goals of their own. Pepperdine ultimately defeated California Baptist 14-9.
 
CBU 4-1-3-1 — 9
PEPP 3-3-4-4 —14
 
Pepperdine goals: Christian Hosea 4, Jon Carcarey 3, Sandor Gal 2, Milo Joseph 2, Chase Wilson 2, Erik Ionescu 1.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Waves wrap up their WCC-Big West Challenge tomorrow with a pair of games in Los Angeles, Calif. as they take on #13 UCSB at 10:30 a.m. before battling CSU Fullerton at 4:30 p.m.