Oct. 22, 2006
Irvine, Calif. - The No. 6 ranked Pacific men's water polo team improved their MPSF record to 2-1 with a 6-5 overtime victory over No. 10 ranked UC Irvine on Sunday, October 22nd at Anteater Pool in Irvine, Calif.
With the win, the Tigers improve their overall record to 14-9, while UC Irvine falls to 6-13, 0-2 in MPSF play.
The first half of the contest was a defensive struggle as UC Irvine held the Tigers, who ranked sixth in the nation in scoring offense entering the contest, to just one goal. Junior Dragan Bakic (Split, Croatia) scored the lone Pacific goal, midway through the first period, which gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. The Anteaters answered a minute later as Jamie Frank found the back of the cage to tie the score 1-1.
The Anteaters came out of intermission reenergized as Cole Bielskis scored to give UC Irvine their first lead just :36 seconds into the third period at 2-1. The Anteaters then scored two additional goals, as Taylor Wells connected on a power play goal and Colin Mello found the back of the cage to make the score 4-1 with 1:27 left in the third period. Pacific then began their march back as junior Duje Kaurloto (Split, Croatia) scored with :18 seconds remaining in the period to pull the Tigers to within two at 4-2.
The fourth period saw Kaurloto continue the comeback, scoring three straight goals, which included a five-meter penalty conversion and two power play conversions, to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead with 1:07 remaining. UC Irvine answered right back, six seconds later as Mello added his second goal of the game to tie the score at 5-5. Both teams took timeouts to set up plays in the final thirty seconds, but neither converted, sending the game into overtime.
In the first of two overtime periods, Bakic scored :25 seconds in to give the Tigers a 6-5 lead that they were able to hold onto for the final 5:35 of overtime play to give them their second conference victory of the season. With two victories, the Tigers have matched their MPSF regular season output of the last three seasons combined.
Junior goalie Brian Domecus (Vallejo, Calif.) has a strong day in the cage, collecting 10 blocks while allowing just five goals.
The Tigers are back in action Saturday, Oct. 28 as they host UC Santa Barbara in MPSF action at Chris Kjeldsen Pool. First sprint is scheduled for 12 noon.
Pacific: 1-0-1-3-1-0 = 6
UC Irvine: 1-0-3-1-0-0 = 5
Goals:
Pacific: Kaurloto 4 (54, 55, 56, 57), Bakic 2 (52, 53)
UCI: Mello 2, Frank, Wells, Bielskis
Blocks: Domecus (PAC) 10; Garcia (UCI) 13.
