Sept. 3, 2006
La Jolla, Calif. - The No.5 ranked Pacific Tigers fell to MPSF foe No. 6 Pepperdine by the score of 14-7 in a Semi-Final matchup in the UCSD Triton Invitational. Then, in the Third Place game, the Tigers were upset by No. 14 UC Davis by the score of 15-8. The Tigers are now 2-2 on the season.
The Tigers found themselves trailing 1-0 midway through the first period against Pepperdine when senior Matt Mitchell (San Diego, Calif.) found the back of the cage to tie the score at 1-1. The Waves answered back less than a minute later on a goal by Tom Strickland to take a 2-1 lead into the second period. Pacific again tied the scored as senior co-captain Clint McLaughlin (El Cajon, Calif.) scored with 6:48 left in the half. After Pepperdine posted the next two goals to take a 4-2 lead, McLaughlin struck again with 1:44 left to close the gap to 4-3. Pepperdine then answered back with a late goal by JP MacDonell to take a 5-3 halftime lead.
To start the second half, the Waves continued their strong play, scoring back-to-back goals to extend the lead to 7-3 before junior Duje Kaurloto (Split, Croatia) could answer to pull the Tigers back to within three. Pepperdine then put the game out of reach with three straight goals, including two by MacDonell to make the score 10-4. With :30 seconds remaining in the period, Kaurloto connected on his second goal of the period to make the tally 10-5 heading into the final period of play. Pepperdine started strong again as they scored two goals in the first 1:39 of the period, including the fourth of the day by MacDonell, to amass a seven goal lead at 12-5. Senior co-captain Matt Turnbull (Act, Australia) and sophomore Will Milcovich (Walnut Creek, Calif.) added late goals for the Tigers, and the Waves added two of their own to account for the 14-7 final.
Against UC Davis, an exciting first half saw both teams battle back and forth for the lead. Kevin Bacharach gave the Aggies a 1-0 lead before Kaurloto tied the score on the ensuing Pacific possession. UC Davis then scored two consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead before Kaurloto responded with his second goal of the game to pull Pacific to within one. Joseph Smith then connected on a goal with 1:48 remaining in the period for the Aggies, only to have the Tigers Milcovich score right back less than a minute later to make the score 4-3 UC Davis after one period of play. The second period got underway with a pair of Aggie goals by Josh McNeely to extend the lead to 6-3. The Tigers then scored the last three goals to end the half as Kaurloto sandwiched a pair of goals around a goal by Matt Mitchell to tie the score at 6-6 entering the break.
In the second half, the Aggies imparted their will on the Tigers, as after an early UC Davis goal was answered by McLaughlin, the Aggies scored four more times in the third period, giving them a 12-7 lead entering the fourth. Any hopes for a comeback were quickly vanquished as UC Davis scored the first three goals of the period before McLaughlin could add his second of the half to round out the scoring at 15-8.
The Tigers will be back in action on Thursday, September 7th as they take on No. 1 California in Berkeley at 4pm.
Pacific: 1-2-2-2= 7
Pepperdine: 2-3-5-4= 14
Goals
Pacific: Kaurloto 2 (5, 6), McLaughlin 2 (4, 5), Milcovich (2), Matt Mitchell (2), Turnbull (5)
Pepperdine: MacDonell 4, Lee 2, Sys 2, Hahn 2, Lantgen, Mann, Stickland, Whitlock
Blocks
Pacific: Andrus 8
Pepperdine: N/A
Pacific: 3-3-1-1 = 8
UC Davis: 4-2-5-3 = 15
Goals
Pacific: Kaurloto 4 (7, 8, 9, 10), McLaughlin 2 (6,7), Milcovich (3), Matt Mitchell (3)
UC Davis: McNeely 4, Bacharach 3, Long 3, Smith 3, MacLachlan, Welch
Blocks
Pacific: Andrus 7
UC Davis: N/A
