Oct. 24, 2008
Davis, Calif.- The Pacific men's water polo fell 7-5 in a non-conference matchup against northern California rival No. 11 UC Davis on Friday Oct. 24. The loss dropped the Tigers to 10-14 overall, while the Aggies advanced to 8-10 on the year with the win.
The first quarter of play proved to be a true measure of the game, as both teams played extremely well on the defensive end. Back and forth the teams battled early, until finally UC Davis scored first at the 6:33 mark, with a goal from Terry Kezer, to take a 1-0 lead. Not wanting to fall into an early hole, sophomore Austin Delong (Houston, Texas) evened the score eleven seconds later with his first goal of the game. Towards the end of the period, the offenses found their groove, with the Aggies posting two more goals, and Tiger senior Shane Mahoney (Lodi, Calif.) earning his first goal with :54 remaining, to cut the lead to 3-2.
As good as the defense was in the first quarter, the second period was exponentially improved on both ends of the pool. Neither team would back down as the intensity turned up for each team. After more then five minutes of scoreless play, Delong again struck gold for the Pacific and evened the score yet again at 3-3 with his second goal of the night at 2:51. The half ended, and the teams headed into halftime in what had the makings of a defensive battle till the end.
The start of the third period brought about an unfortunate turn of events for the Tigers as the defense struggled against an energized Aggie attack. UC Davis outscored Pacific 4-1 in the quarter, off four goals by three scorers. Junior Joey Rossi (Ceres, Calif.) scored his lone goal of the contest with 1:43 left in the period, and the Tigers found themselves trailing 7-4 heading into the final quarter of play.
The fourth quarter displayed a completely different Tiger squad in the water. Determined to not let themselves be outscored again, the defense stepped up their level of play tremendously, to a 1-0 shutout in the quarter. Almost six minutes went by without a goal by either side, and a few unfortunate missed shots by Pacific proved to be the difference in the game. Delong sealed up his hat trick with his third goal of the game at the 2:38 mark, but it was not enough as the time expired and the game ended with UC Davis on top 7-5.
|
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Total |
| Pacific |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
| UC Davis |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
Pacific was led by Delong who scored three goals on the night for the Tigers.
UC Davis was led by Grant Muenter who netted three goals for the Aggies.
Pacific is next in action Sunday Oct. 26, at 12 pm as they face No. 4 UCLA at home in a conference matchup at Chris Kjeldsen Pool.
