LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The #4 Pepperdine men's water polo team (10-1) went 2-0 in the final day of the WCC-Big West Challenge as the Waves capped off an undefeated WCC Big-West Challenge after beating #13 UCSB (10-4) and CSU Fullerton (4-7) today.
 
In the morning, the Waves came back from a two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter against the Gauchos as Pepperdine scored five straight goals on the way to a 13-11 victory. Pepperdine then finished the weekend with another two-goal win in the evening, this time over the CSU Fullerton Titans.
 
BIG WAVES

• Junior attacker Adam Csapo (Budapest, Hungary) notched two goals and three assists today.
• Junior attacker Sandor Gal (Budapest, Hungary) dished out five assists while also scoring once in the two games.
• Fifth year attacker Christian Hosea (San Clemente, Calif.) had six goals and one assist on the day.
• Senior attacker Dane Howell (Huntington Beach, Calif.) tallied a hat-trick against the Gauchos.
• Sophomore center Chase Wilson (New York, N.Y.) drew 12 exclusions today, including eight against UCSB.

UCSB RECAP
 
In a game that saw nine ties, Pepperdine dug deep and was eventually able to pull away in the fourth quarter. The Waves scored five straight goals in the final period to complete the comeback and defeat UCSB 13-11.
 
After UCSB scored on the opening possession of the game with a man advantage, Hosea continued his stellar weekend and converted a 6-on-5 opportunity to tie the game 1-all.  The Gauchos then found another goal halfway through the period to take a 2-1 lead. On the ensuing Pepperdine possession, Howell scored a penalty goal after Anthony D'Ambra (Rolling Hills, Calif.) drew the foul to make it a 2-2 game. Howell then found the back of the net once again with an assist from D'Ambra to give the Waves a 3-2 lead after the first eight minutes.
 
UCSB tied the game 3-3 to open the second period, but Erik Ionescu (Budapest, Hungary) found Milo Joseph (Malibu, Calif.) who found the back of the cage and put Pepperdine back in front with a goal on a power play. Jackson Benners (Dallas, Texas) and Gal also scored in the second quarter, but the Gauchos continued to match the Waves offensive output as the two teams remained all square heading into halftime, 6-6.
 
UCSB would take a 7-6 lead with a goal on a 6-on-5, but Conor Brough (Dana Point, Calif.) tied the game for the seventh time on a penalty shot after Joseph drew the foul. The Gauchos would score two of the last three goals in the quarter and hold a 9-8 lead after the third quarter.
 
The Gauchos opened the fourth period with a goal to go up by two, but Howell's third goal of the game brought the Waves back within one and sparked the Waves offense. Joseph, Wilson, Carcarey and Csapo scored the games' next four goals to put Pepperdine in front 13-10 with 1:42 remaining. The Gauchos would score once more, but the Waves would hold on to defeat UCSB 13-11.
 
UCSB 2-4-3-2 — 11
PEPP 3-3-2-5 — 13
 
Pepperdine goals: Dane Howell 3, Christian Hosea 2, Milo Joseph 2, Jackson Benners 1, Conor Brough 1, Jon Caracarey 1, Adam Csapo 1, Sandor Gal 1, Chase Wilson 1.
 
CSU FULLERTON RECAP
 
Carcarey converted a 6-on-5 opportunity on the Waves first offensive possession of the game as Pepperdine took an early lead. However, CSU Fullerton would then tie the game on the next possession. The Waves were able to score the final four goals of the quarter as Hosea, Wilson and D'Ambra all added their names to the stat sheet before Carcarey found the back of the net for a second time.
 
The Titans began the second period with three straight goals and eventually tied the game 6-all with 1:24 left in the half, but Benners was able to find the back of the cage to give the Waves a 7-6 lead at the break.
 
After a goal from CSU Fullerton tied the game once more, Howell connected with Joseph who beat the goalie as he fired a shot into the back of the net and put the Waves in front 8-7. Csapo then converted a 6-on-5 to double Pepperdine's advantage, 9-7. The Titans would knot the game again at 9-all, but Hosea and Ionescu would score the last two goals of the period and give the Waves a two-goal lead with eight minutes to play.
 
CSU Fullerton kept battling and made it an 11-10 game in favor of Pepperdine, but Hosea and Wilson scored back-to-back goals to put the Waves up 13-10 with less than five minutes to play. After a few more stops by the Pepperdine defense, the Waves would ultimately take the victory against the Titans 13-11 and cap off an undefeated WCC-Big West Challenge.
 
CSUF 1-5-3-2 — 11
PEPP 5-2-4-2 — 13
 
Pepperdine goals: Christian Hosea 4, Jon Carcarey 2, Chase Wilson 2, Jackson Benners 1, Adam Csapo 1, Anthony D'Ambra 1, Erik Ionescu 1, Milo Joseph 1.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine returns home to Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on Saturday, September 28 for a top-10 matchup against #10 Long Beach State at noon. The first 100 fans at the game will receive a free WCC champion rally towel. Tickets for Saturday's game can be found here.