SAN DIEGO, Calif. — No. 7 Pepperdine water polo (3-1) split the final day at the Triton Invite hosted by UC San Diego (UCSD), falling to No. 14 UC Davis (3-1) by a score of 13-10 before topping No. 12 UCSD (3-3) 10-9 finish the opening weekend 3-1.

With the game tied at eight in the fourth period against UCSD, Brian Barnuevo and Jon Carcarey scored the late goals to propel the Waves to the victory over the Tritons.
 
Dane Howell paced the Waves with five goals on the day with four coming in the opener against UC Davis.

Sandor Gal filled the stat sheet with three goals, four assists and a pair of steals on the day as he led the Waves with 16 total points on the weekend. 
 
Matty Walsh and Cade Anderton each chipped in three goals on the day with Walsh adding a pair of steals. Owen Tift added five steals to go along with a pair of goals and assist.
 
Max Smirnov picked up the win in goal for the Waves against the Tritons, making ten saves while allowing nine goals in the effort.

"We played two very tough opponents today," noted head coach Merrill Moses. "Unfortunately, in the morning game versus UC Davis, our team started the game off slow and we were playing catch up and could never close the gap. We had a great talk as a team and the team responded very well in our second game vs. UC San Diego. They came out with great energy and stifling defense. We had a very well balanced attack with lots of players scoring goals. Max Smirnov played very well in the cage for our team. Overall, this was a successful weekend with four very tough games to start the season."
 
Game One: No. 7 Pepperdine 10, No. 14 UC Davis 13
The Aggies got on the board first on a power play within the first minute of the game, a goal that was answered by a pair from Pepperdine. Matty Walsh continued his strong play at center with a goal before fellow graduate student Dane Howell netted his first of the game as the Waves led early.
 
UC Davis answered with three straight tallies to jump out in front 4-2, as Howell got one back with another score before a late Aggie goal made it 5-3 heading into the second period.
 
Walsh got the scoring started in the second with his fifth of the season as UC Davis then put together a 3-0 run to end the half with the third goal coming right at the buzzer. The Waves were held to just one goal in the period as the Aggies led 8-4 at the break.
 
The Waves began to mount a comeback in the second half, with Cade Anderton and Howell netting consecutive goals to half the lead down two goals. Conor Brough got his first of the season to answer a UC Davis goal which pushed the score to 9-7 in the favor of the Aggies.
 
Oleg Shatskikh began to take over for the Aggies with consecutive goals as he netted three in the final 11:19 of play. Pepperdine trailed 11-7 heading into the final frame.
 
UC Davis tacked on another for a game-high five goal lead less than a minute into the fourth. The Waves were able to chip away with two straight goals from Gal and Howell, but the Aggies bled enough clock to bring the game to the final minute where each team scored in the final 25 seconds. The final score was brought to a 13-10 finish following Gal's second of the game with seven ticks remaining. 
 
Game Two: No. 7 Pepperdine 10, No. 12 UC San Diego 9
The Waves came out determined and led throughout the first half of the game against the Tritons in the first true road contest of the season. Carcarey fed Tift for the first of the game before Walsh got on the scoresheet from close range to make it 2-0 Pepperdine.
 
The teams then traded goals into the midway point of the second quarter, with the Waves now leading 6-4 as Howell, Tift, Gal and Anderton notched tallies. Smirnov was in form early as the goalie made six saves for the Waves in the first half. Neither team found the back of the cage for the final 5:04 of the half as the Waves took a two-goal lead into halftime.
 
The teams traded stops to begin the second half before the Aggies broke through on a five-meter attempt at the 5:47 mark to get back within one goal. Pepperdine lost its lead for the first time at the 4:19 mark as Luca Rago put in a five-meter attempt for the Tritons to knot it up at six.
 
The Waves answered after trailing for the first time all game at 7-6 with back-to-back tallies from Csanád Bella and Cade Anderton. Bella finished off a feed from Charles Warmington for his first of the game as Pepperdine took a one goal lead into the final eight minutes.
 
In its first one-goal game in a fourth period this season, the Waves responded after allowing the tying goal early, forcing six straight empty possessions on defense. Brian Barnuevo scored the go-ahead goal with 6:50 remaining, with Carcarey providing a cushion at the 3:50 mark with his first goal of the contest. 
 
The Tritons made it a 10-9 game with a conversion from the five-meter, and got the ball back with 37 seconds remaining in need of a goal as the home side called timeout. With the game on the line, the Waves defense held firm, forcing an errant shot from a tight angle to regain possession in the closing seconds to end the game.
 
Game Notes

• Sandor Gal totaled five points through two goals and three assists against UC Davis.
• Gal finished the opening weekend with the team high in goals (11), assists (5) and steals (7).
• Dane Howell logged his second four-goal effort of the season with his four tallies against UC Davis.
• Matty Walsh potted three goals on the day while picking up a pair of steals against the Aggies on the defensive end.
• Owen Tift scored a pair of first period goals at UCSD for his first tallies of the season while adding three steals throughout the contest.
• Cade Anderton scored a pair at UCSD and has scored a goal in all four games to begin his sophomore season.
• Max Smirnov made 10 saves while allowing nine goals to improve to 2-0 on the season in the cage for the Waves.
• Charles Warmington added two steals against the Aggies while providing an assist in the win over the Tritons.
• Jon Carcarey finished the weekend with five points and six steals, posting a goal and an assist in the win over UCSD.
• Csanád Bella is one of five Waves to score at least three goals on the opening weekend and the lone freshman.
• Pepperdine has yet to be shut out in a period so far this season.
• The Waves move to 2-1 against ranked opponents to begin the year.
• Pepperdine moves to 30-6 in the all-time series with UC Davis following the loss.
• The Waves are now 53-9-1 all-time against the Tritons. 

The Waves will now prepare for the home opener on Sunday, Sept. 7, playing host to No. 2 USC with the opening sprint set for 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE WATER POLO
Pepperdine water polo has seen success spanning decades under Terry Schroeder who gave the reins to Merrill Moses following the 2023 season. Highlighted by its national championship in 1997 with Moses as the starting goalie, the Waves have reached the NCAA Tournament on 13 occasions and recently won the inaugural WCC Regular Season Championship in 2023. Overall, the program has seen 60 athletes garner All-American honors while boasting a winning record in 36 of 50 seasons.

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