October 5, 2011

Weekly Release in PDF Format l Coach Graham Video Interview

What's Happening:
The No. 6 Pacific men's water polo team will take a short trip up I-5 for a match at No. 9 UC Davis on Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.

Last Week In Brief
The Tigers took part in the SoCal Tournament last weekend, going 2-2 and finishing in seventh place. A 9-6 opening-round win over then-No. 11 Loyola Marymount set up a quarterfinal match with then-No. 3 California, which the Orange and Black dropped 11-9.

Pacific faced then-No. 8 UC Santa Barbara the following morning, losing 9-8 on a golden goal. The Tigers rebounded to defeat then-No. 5 Pepperdine 11-9 in overtime to claim seventh in the 16-team tournament.

A Quick Look Ahead
Pacific will begin Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play Sunday, Oct. 16 in a match at Pepperdine. The opening sprint is set for 1 p.m.

News And Notes
Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Malkis eclipsed the 300-career saves mark Saturday, Oct. 1. He entered the SoCal Tournament with 281 career blocks, needing just 19 saves. It did not take him long, as he tallied 10 saves in both of Saturday's matches. His 300th block came in the third quarter of Pacific's match versus California.

Sophomore Balazs Erdelyi had a stellar SoCal Tournament for the Tigers, scoring 14 goals in four matches and establishing himself as one of the premier players in the nation. The Hungarian attacker opened with a hat trick against Loyola Marymount on Saturday before scoring four goals against UC Santa Barbara and five goals against Pepperdine the following day.

Scouting UC Davis
The Aggies enter their match with Pacific at 16-5 on the year and are coming off of a 10th-place finish at last week's SoCal Tournament.

Senior center Aaron Salit tallied a hat trick against Princeton while junior Russell Hampton registered four scores against UC San Diego. Senior goalkeeper Kevin Peat recorded 29 blocks in four matches.

Friday's match will be the second time the two squads have met this season. Pacific defeated UC Davis 8-7 on Sept. 3 as part of the Golden Bear Invitational hosted by California. Junior Goran Tomasevic scored three goals in the match while senior Tom Koning had two.

MPSF Stat Rankings
Sophomore Balazs Erdelyi's 14-goal weekend brought his goals-per-game average up to 2.58, good for second in the conference. His 31 goals are third-most in the MPSF.

Senior Tom Koning ranks fifth with 2.23 goals per game. Junior Goran Tomasevic's 1.85 average is good for ninth.

Sophomore Alex Malkis is saving an average of 9.45 shots per game, good for sixth. His 104 saves ranks second in the MPSF.

Recapping Last Week
Pacific 9, No. 11 Loyola Marymount 6
Erdelyi tallied a pair of first-quarter goals to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. Pacific stretched the margin to 4-0 on a pair of second-quarter goals from Tomasevic and junior Balazs Szabo.

LMU trimmed the margin to 4-2 at intermission, and netted the first goal of the third quarter, but Tomasevic answered with a goal to restore a 5-3 lead.

The Lions cut the margin to one again, but senior Daniel Lungu scored with one second remaining in the third quarter, and Erdelyi and Lungu each tallied early in the fourth quarter.

Tomasevic added his third goal of the match to give the Tigers a 9-4 lead, and Pacific coasted home with the win.

Pacific 9, No. 3 California 11
Erdelyi got the Tigers on the board in the first quarter with a goal to tie the match at 1-1. After Koning's first goal, Erdelyi gave Pacific a 3-1 lead. Cal pulled to within one with 40 seconds left in the frame.

The Tigers stretched the lead to 4-2 after a goal by Tomasevic, but Cal scored twice in 40 seconds to knot the match at 4-4. Senior Todd Hazen scored on a six-on-five play to go up by one but the Golden Bears answered with a goal to tie it at the half.

Pacific opened the third quarter withgoals from senior Jasper Visser and Szabo, but California answered with a goal to send the match into the final quarter at 8-6 in favor of the Tigers.

Back-to-back- goals from California knotted things up with 6:22 remaining, and after Koning tallied again to give the Tigers a 9-8 lead, the Golden Bears came back to take the lead on a pair of scores.

Pacific had two six-on-five opportunities but could not convert for the equalizer as the Golden Bears netted an insurance goal with 1:47 left.

Pacific 8, No. 8 UCSB 9 (2SV)
The Gauchos were dominant early, notching two first-quarter scores before Erdelyi put Pacific on the board at the 2:14 mark to cut UCSB's lead to 2-1.

UC Santa Barbara remained on the offensive in the second quarter as the Gauchos tallied three goals, going up 5-1 with 4:42 left in the first half. Koning found the back of the cage at the 3:13 mark to give the Tigers their second score of the match, trimming UCSB's advantage to 5-2 heading into intermission.

Tomasevic scored early in the third period to bring Pacific to within two, but two straight goals from the Gauchos extended their lead to 7-3 with one quarter to play.

The Tigers would not go down silently, however, as they mounded a huge comeback in the final period to tie the match and force overtime. Tomasevic netted early in the quarter before Erdelyi scored at the 4:32 mark, cutting UCSB's lead to 7-5. Tomasevic completed his hat trick two minutes later on a six-on-five goal to bring Pacific to within one. Erdelyi scored the game-tying goal, also his third of the match, at the 1:11 mark, completing Pacific's rally and forcing overtime,

After getting shut out in the fourth quarter, UCSB scored first in overtime to reclaim the lead. Erdelyi would come through again for the Tigers, finishing with just 16 seconds left in the first overtime period to know the game at 8-8.

The two squads failed to score in the second overtime period, forcing a golden goal period that saw the Gauchos score with two seconds on the clock to earn the hard-fought win.

Pacific 11, Pepperdine 9 (2OT)
Pacific jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on a goal from Erdelyi early in the first quarter. Erdelyi would score again, this time at the 1:00 mark, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead. A late Pepperdine goal cut Pacific's advantage to one at the end of the period.

The Tigers continued to play well offensively, getting a quick score from Koning to take a 3-1 lead early in the second before a goal from senior Tyler Reardon gave Pacific a 4-1 advantage with 2:19 left in the half. The Waves were able to draw an exclusion with 37 seconds remaining before scoring on the subsequent six-on-five play to trim Pacific's lead to 4-2 at the break.

Koning scored his second goal of the match on a six-on-five play early in the third quarter to put Pacific up 5-2. Consecutive Pepperdine goals allowed the Waves to make it a one-goal game, but senior Lance Morrison found the back of the cage to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead at the 3:16 mark. A Pepperdine score with three seconds remaining again brought the Waves to within one with one quarter left to play.

Pepperdine would score first in the fourth quarter, knotting the game at 6-6. Erdelyi tallied his third goal of the match at the 6:03 mark to give Pacific a one-goal advantage, but consecutive Pepperdine goals gave the Waves their first lead of the match with four minutes remaining.

Pacific regained momentum on another score from Erdelyi as he tied the match at 8-8 with 2:14 left. The Waves would score just 17 seconds later, however, to go back on top at 9-8. Not to be outdone, the Tigers turned to Tomasevic, who tallied to tie the game at 9-9 and send it to overtime.

In the first overtime period, Pacific was able to draw a penalty shot which Tomasevic converted, putting the Tigers up 10-9 with 1:39 left. The Orange and Black would put the game away early in the second overtime as Erdelyi scored his fifth goal of the match at the 2:22 mark, after which Pepperdine failed to find the scoreboard the rest of the way.