Oct. 22, 2008

Stanford, Calif.- The No. 17 Pacific men's water polo team fell to No. 2 Stanford 10-4 on Wednesday Oct. 22, in their first road conference matchup of the season. The loss moved the Tigers to 10-13 overall and 0-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), while the Cardinal advanced to 16-2 overall and 2-0 in the MPSF with the win.

The game started off slow for Pacific as Stanford came flying out of the gate offensively to start the contest, netting four goals in the first period alone to tak the lead. Senior William Milcovich (Walnut Creek, Calif.) got Pacific on the board with his first strike of the game, but the Tigers were out-dueled in the quarter 4-1.

Period two had much the same ring to it for Pacific as the Cardinal offense dominated the Tiger defense with three more goals in the quarter. Junior Joey Rossi (Ceres, Calif.) cut into the lead with a late goal, to make the score 7-2 heading into halftime.

The midway point came as a much needed relief for the Tigers, and it proved to be all the time they needed to gather themselves and mount a charge of their own. Throughout the course of the third period, Pacific stayed right with the No. 2 team in the country, showing that they were not going down without a fight. Pacific tied the Cardinal 2-2 in the period on goals by junior Grant Hollis (Redlands, Calif.) and another score by Milcovich. Heading into the final quarter, Stanford still held the lead, 9-4.

The final quarter again showed the Tigers' grit and determination as they were able to hold Stanford to only one goal in the period, despite trailing by several goals. The game ended and Pacific fell 10-4 on the road to Stanford.

Pacific was led by Milcovich who had two goals on the night. Senior Brian Domecus (Vallejo, Calif.) had five saves in goal.

The Tigers are next in action for part two of their three-game week with a rivalry game against northern California opponent UC Davis at 6:00pm in Davis, Calif.