Oct. 6, 2007

Stockton, Calif. - With 21 goals scored from 14 different athletes, the Pacific men's water polo team defeated Fresno Pacific by a score of 21-9 in their opening game of the Pacific Water Polo Invitational. With the win, the Tigers improved to 8-9 on the season, while the Sunbirds fell to 3-8 on the year.

In the game, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead as they outscored Fresno Pacific 10-1 in the first period. In the first, Dragan Bakic (Split, Croatia) and Kenny Yamamoto (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) each netted three goals, while Duje Kaurloto (Split, Croatia) scored twice and Mike Struempf (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) and Evan Garcia each netted one goal a piece.

In the second period, Brett Hirsch (Brea, Calif.) scored back to back goals and Tim Schell (Soquel, Calif.) and Austin Delong each added a goal to take Pacific into the half leading the Sunbirds by a score of 14-3.

The second half also featured an abundance of Tiger goals as Jonathan Pare added two goals for Pacific and five more Tigers each added another. Neil Bykerk (Palos Verdes, Calif.), Nick Jaska (Apple Valley, Calif.), Philip Berolzheimer (Stockton, Calif.), Hector Lam Jr. (San Diego, Calif.), and Joey Rossi all added a goal for the Tigers late in the game.

The Pacific water polo team's next game will be against No. 19 Cal Baptist at 1:30 this afternoon. The game will be played at Delta Junior College in Stockton, Calif.

Pacific: 10 - 4 - 4 - 3 = 21

Fresno Pacific: 1 - 2 - 4 - 2 = 9

Pacific Goals:

Kenny Yamamoto - 3, Dragan Bakic - 3, Brett Hirsch - 2, Duje Kaurloto - 2, Jonathan Pare - 2, Neil Bykerk - 1, Hector Lam Jr. - 1, Nick Jaska - 1, Tim Schell - 1, Mike Struempf - 1, Joey Rossi - 1, Austin Delong - 1, Philip Berolzheimer - 1, Evan Garcia - 1

Fresno Pacific Goals:

Kaleb Fachner - 3, Luke McAlpine - 3, Kriztian Kovacs - 1, Mike Kemether - 1, Tim Kahn - 1