Waves Drop Final Regular Season Contest to Tigers
STOCKTON, Calif. – The #9 Pepperdine men's water polo team dropped its last regular season contest to #5 Pacific at Eberhardt Aquatics Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers (18-1, 6-0) outshot the Waves (20-7, 5-1) .424 to .267 on the day, while holding Pepperdine to no more than two goals per quarter. With the win, Pacific won the WCC regular season title and clinched the No. 1 seed and a bye in the conference tournament next weekend.
BIG WAVES
After two goals from Pacific, Csapo made it a 2-1 game in favor of the Tigers with the Waves first goal of the game. Gal then converted a 6-on-5 out of a timeout to tie the game 2-2. The Tigers then found the last goal of the quarter on their own power play to take a 3-2 lead into the second period.
Csapo opened the second period with his second goal of the game, but Pacific was able to take a 6-3 lead as they scored three of the first four goals in the period. Christian Hosea (San Clemente, Calif.) added his name to the stat sheet, but Pacific would match Pepperdine with a goal of its own and take a 7-4 lead into the break.
Scoring four of the first five goals in the second half, the Tigers used a dominant start to the third quarter to separate themselves and take control of the game as they held an 11-5 advantage with less than four minutes left in the period. Erik Ionescu (Budapest, Hungary) would find the back of the cage, but Pacific scored back-to-back goals to end the quarter as they took a seven-goal advantage into the final eight minutes, 13-6.
The Tigers continued to give the Waves problems on the offensive end as they held Pepperdine to just another pair of goals in the final period as they won the contest 14-8 on Saturday afternoon.
PEPP 2-2-2-2 — 8
PAC 3-4-6-1 — 14
Pepperdine goals: Adam Csapo 2, Sandor Gal 2, Bronson Birdsall 1, Jon Carcarey 1, Christian Hosea 1, Erik Ionescu 1.
UP NEXT
The Waves will be the No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference tournament and play on Friday, November 22 at 10 a.m. against the No. 7 seed and 19th-ranked Loyola Marymount Lions.
The WCC tournament will be in Stockton, Calif., and all games will be streamed on ESPN+ and have live stats. Links to the live stats for all Pepperdine games as well as the streams 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.
The Tigers (18-1, 6-0) outshot the Waves (20-7, 5-1) .424 to .267 on the day, while holding Pepperdine to no more than two goals per quarter. With the win, Pacific won the WCC regular season title and clinched the No. 1 seed and a bye in the conference tournament next weekend.
BIG WAVES
- Junior attacker Adam Csapo (Budapest, Hungary) had two goals and one assist.
- Junior attacker Sandor Gal (Budapest, Hungary) posted two goals, one drawn exclusion and three steals.
- Freshman goalie Max Smirnov (Petah Tikva, Israel) tallied 11 saves, two steals and one assist.
After two goals from Pacific, Csapo made it a 2-1 game in favor of the Tigers with the Waves first goal of the game. Gal then converted a 6-on-5 out of a timeout to tie the game 2-2. The Tigers then found the last goal of the quarter on their own power play to take a 3-2 lead into the second period.
Csapo opened the second period with his second goal of the game, but Pacific was able to take a 6-3 lead as they scored three of the first four goals in the period. Christian Hosea (San Clemente, Calif.) added his name to the stat sheet, but Pacific would match Pepperdine with a goal of its own and take a 7-4 lead into the break.
Scoring four of the first five goals in the second half, the Tigers used a dominant start to the third quarter to separate themselves and take control of the game as they held an 11-5 advantage with less than four minutes left in the period. Erik Ionescu (Budapest, Hungary) would find the back of the cage, but Pacific scored back-to-back goals to end the quarter as they took a seven-goal advantage into the final eight minutes, 13-6.
The Tigers continued to give the Waves problems on the offensive end as they held Pepperdine to just another pair of goals in the final period as they won the contest 14-8 on Saturday afternoon.
PEPP 2-2-2-2 — 8
PAC 3-4-6-1 — 14
Pepperdine goals: Adam Csapo 2, Sandor Gal 2, Bronson Birdsall 1, Jon Carcarey 1, Christian Hosea 1, Erik Ionescu 1.
UP NEXT
The Waves will be the No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference tournament and play on Friday, November 22 at 10 a.m. against the No. 7 seed and 19th-ranked Loyola Marymount Lions.
The WCC tournament will be in Stockton, Calif., and all games will be streamed on ESPN+ and have live stats. Links to the live stats for all Pepperdine games as well as the streams 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.
