LA JOLLA, Calif. – The #13 Pepperdine men's water polo team went 2-0 in the first day of competition at the Triton Invitational after two dominant performances as they defeated Pomona-Pitzer 21-9 in the morning before downing Westcliff 23-5 in the afternoon.
BIG WAVES
- Senior attacker Christian Hosea (San Clemente, Calif.) led the Waves in scoring with five goals against Pomona-Pitzer, while also tallying a total of eight goals and one assist on the day.
- Redshirt freshman attacker Bronson Birdsall (Kailua, Hawai'i) collected five goals and one assist for a total of six points with a .833 shooting percentage today.
- Freshman attacker Erik Ionescu (Budapest, Hungary) tallied five goals and one assist while also nabbing two steals on the day.
- Fifth Year attacker Anthony D'Ambra (Rolling Hills, Calif.) posted a total of six points with four goals and two assists in the two games.
- Freshman goalie Max Smirnov (Petah Tikva, Israel) collected 18 saves with a save percentage of .783 in his collegiate debut against Westcliff.
POMONA-PITZER RECAP
On the first possession of the year,
Adam Csapo (Budapest, Hungary) gave the Waves a 1-0 lead with a powerplay goal. Pomona-Pitzer then evened the score 1-all, but Pepperdine would tally the games next four goals to take a 5-1 advantage. In his collegiate debut, Ionescu picked up two goals in the first period as the Waves took a 7-3 lead into the second quarter.
Hosea began the period with his second goal of the game to put Pepperdine up by five. After a back-and-forth middle of the quarter,
Chase Wilson (New York, N.Y.) and Hosea scored back-to-back goals to give the Waves a 13-7 lead heading into halftime.
Pepperdine continued to find success in the second half, but this time on the defensive end. Freshman goalie,
Jaxon Leach (San Diego, Calif.) held the Sagehens scoreless in the third quarter to help the Waves take a 15-7 advantage into the final period.
Also appearing in his first collegiate game and opening the scoring in the fourth quarter,
Charles Warmington (Newport Beach, Calif.) put Pepperdine up by nine with seven minutes to go. The Waves tacked on five more goals in the period and defeated the Sagehens 21-9 to earn their first win of the season.
POM 3-4-0-2 — 9
PEPP 7-6-2-6 —21
Pepperdine goals:
Christian Hosea 5,
Jon Carcarey 3,
Dane Howell 3,
Erik Ionescu 3,
Charles Warmington 2,
Adam Csapo 1,
Anthony D'Ambra 1,
Sandor Gal 1,
Milo Joseph 1,
Chase Wilson 1.
WESTCLIFF RECAP
After an empty couple of possessions from both teams, Wilson fired a shot into the back of the net to put Pepperdine up 1-0. The Warriors tied the game with a goal of their own, but D'Ambra and Birdsall scored back-to-back goals to end the quarter with the Waves leading 3-1.
After a Westcliff goal with 6:22 left in the first half to make the score 4-2 in favor of Pepperdine, the Waves held the Warriors scoreless for the remainder of the period while tallying six goals of their own to take a 10-2 lead into the break.
Wilson and Birdsall each had two goals during the third quarter as Pepperdine found the back of the net a total of eight times and took an 18-4 advantage into the final period.
Pepperdine would add five more goals in the fourth quarter including Birdsall's fifth of the game before ultimately beating Westcliff 23-5.
Freshman goalie
Max Smirnov put on a clinic in the goal as he tallied a total of 18 saves while only allowing more than one goal in one of the four quarters.
WEST 1-1-2-1 — 5
PEPP 3-7-8-5 —23
Pepperdine goals:
Bronson Birdsall 5,
Chase Wilson 4,
Anthony D'Ambra 3,
Christian Hosea 3,
Erik Ionescu 2,
Conor Brough 1,
Sandor Gal 1,
Dane Howell 1,
Milo Joseph 1,
Clay Kaneko 1,
Owen Tift 1.
UP NEXT
The Waves will face off against the three-time defending national champions and #2-ranked California Bears at 1:15 p.m. tomorrow before wrapping up their Triton Invitational with a matchup against Fullerton at 5:15 p.m.
