Sept. 2, 2006

La Jolla, Calif. The No. 5 Pacific men's water polo team ran their record to 2-0 on the season with a pair of victories in group pool play at the UCSD Triton Invitational on Saturday, September 2. The Tigers defeated No. 18 Air Force 12-9 before handing No. 9 Loyola Marymount a 13-12 loss.

In today's first game against No. 18 Air Force, the Tigers struck first as senior co-captain Clint McLaughlin (El Cajon, Calif.) scored :46 seconds into the game to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. After goals by the Falcons Clark Condict and Justin Berry gave Air Force a 2-0 lead, junior All-American Dragan Bakic (Split, Croatia) found the back of the cage to tie the game at two. The Tigers then took a 3-2 on fellow Croatian junior Duje Kaurloto's (Split, Croatia) first goal as a Tiger with 5:16 remaining in the period.

Air Force then scored two straight goals before junior Andy Skora (San Clemente, Calif.) scored his first goal of the season to tie the score at 4-4 early in the second period. After a Falcon goal by Alex Churnside put the Tigers behind 5-4, Bakic scored his second goal of the game to even the score at 5-5. The Falcons answered back :41 seconds later with a goal to give them a 6-5 lead before Tiger senior Chris Garcia (Burbank, Calif.) connected on his first career goal to tie the score at 6-6. The final scoring of the half took place in the final minute as McLaughlin scored his second goal of the game for the Tigers, while Berry for the Falcons added his third of the game to tie the score at 7-7 heading to the break.

The second half started slow as Churnside connected near the midway point of the third period to give the Falcons an 8-7 lead. The lead was short lived as Skora added his second goal of the game for the Tigers a minute later to tie the score at 8-8. With 2:13 left in the quarter, McLaughlin scored his third goal of the game to give the Tigers a lead they would never relinquish at 9-8. Pacific added a late goal by Will Milcovich (Walnut Creek, Calif.) and two more for Bakic in the fourth period, while giving up just two goals in the second half to account for the final margin of 12-9. Sophomore goalie David Andrus (Houston, Texas) collected eight blocks for the game, which was his first collegiate start.

In game two against No. 9 Loyola Marymount, Pacific got started offensively early as Bakic scored just :40 seconds in to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead over the Lions. After three straight LMU goals, including two by Cuberto Hernandez made the score 3-1 Lions, Pacific senior Matt Mitchell (San Diego, Calif.) scored his first goal of the year to make it a 3-2 game. The Lions added one more goal in the period to give them a 4-2 lead after one. In the second period, the Tigers offense started off hot again as Bakic scored :38 seconds into the period, cutting the LMU lead to one. Pacific got right back on the scoreboard as Skora slammed one into the back of the cage less than a minute later to tie the score at 4-4. The Lions answered back with two more goals to take a 6-4 lead before the Tigers matched them back on a pair of goals by Kaurloto to make the score 6-6 at the half.

The start of the second half saw both the Tigers score three of the first four goals, as Garcia, Kaurloto, and senior co-captain Matt Turnbull (Act, Australia) all found the back of the net, giving the Tigers a 9-7 advantage. Turnbull was not done, as he scored the final two goals of the period for Pacific, giving his squad an 11-9 lead heading into the final period of play. LMU tightened the score to 11-10 to open the period as Hernandez connected on his third goal of the game. The Tigers answered right back as Turnbull scored his fourth goal of the half to give the Tigers a 12-10 lead. Pacific added a late goal by Skora to hold off LMU, a Final Four team from a year ago, by the final of 13-12. In goal for the Tigers, Andrus added 13 blocks, as the Tigers outscored the Lions 7-6 in the final half of play.

For the day, Bakic lead the Tigers with six goals, while Kaurloto, Skora and Turnbull added four apiece.

Pacific will be back in action at 11:30am on Sunday as they take on No. 6 Pepperdine in Semi-final matchup. The other Semi-final pits host UC San Diego against the Aggies of UC Davis. The winners of each game will face each other in the Championship Game at 4:10pm, while the losers will meet in the Third Place Game at 3pm.

Air Force: 3-4-1-1= 9
Pacific: 3-4-2-3= 12

Goals
Air Force: Berry 3, Churnside 3, Condict 2, Pickell
Pacific: Bakic 4, McLaughlin 3, Skora 2, Garcia, Kaurloto, Milcovich

Blocks
Air Force: N/A
Pacific: Andrus 8

Pacific: 2-4-5-2= 13
LMU: 4-2-3-3= 12

Goals
LMU: Hernandez 3, Lormant 3, McShane 3, Beneditti 2, Flood
Pacific: Turnbull 4, Kaurloto 3 (2,3,4), Bakic 2 (5, 6), Skora 2 (3,4), Garcia (2), Matt Mitchell

Blocks
Air Force: N/A
Pacific: Andrus 11