Nov. 19, 2005

Malibu, Calif. The No. 8 ranked Pacific Tigers men's water polo team fell to No. 6 Pepperdine 14-9 in MPSF play on Saturday, November 19th. With the loss, the Tigers fall to 18-11, 2-5 in MPSF play, while Pepperdine moves to 16-9, 2-5 in MPSF play.

The game was one of runs, as Pepperdine scored the first five goals of the first period to take a 5-0 advantage. Pacific fought back, scoring the final two goals of the first period, and the first five of the second period to take a 7-5 lead with 3:01 left in the half. The Waves made the most of the time left in the period, scoring five goals to take a 10-7 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Pepperdine scored the first four goals, capping off what was a 9-0 scoring run to lead 14-7 late in the fourth. The Tigers mounted a late comeback scoring the final two goals of the game, but it was not enough.

Junior Matt Turnbull (Act, Australia) had a season high five goals for Pacific, giving him 43 on the season. Sophomore Dragan Bakic (Split, Croatia) added one goal to increase his season total to a team high 47 goals.

Pacific is next in action on Sunday, November 20th, as they face No. 5 UCLA at 1pm. A Pacific win, combined with a Pepperdine loss to Long Beach State, would give the Tigers the No. 6 seed in the MPSF tournament, to be held Nov. 25-27th at USC. Regardless of the outcome against UCLA, Pacific will be in the MPSF tournament, which will be the Tigers first postseason appearance since 2002.

1 2 3 4 Tot.

Pacific 2 5 0 2 9

Pepperdine 5 5 1 3 14

Goals: PAC - Matt Turnbull (5), Adam Zobler (2), Kenny Yamamoto, Dragan Bakic;

PEP - Adam Hewko (3), Jesse Smith (3), Grant Miller (2), Matt MacDonell (2), Tom Strickland, Brian Whitlock, Matt Hahn, Dorian Beaney.

Saves: PAC - Marko Popovic 2;

PEP - Ben Tait 10.