Nov. 15, 2008
Irvine, Calif.- The Pacific men's water polo fell to No. 9 UC Irvine 10-9 on Saturday, Nov. 15, behind a career performance from senior William Milcovich (Walnut Creek, Calif.). The loss drops the Tigers to 10-18 overall, and 0-6 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play. Irvine advanced to 10-11 overall and 1-5 in the MPSF.
Pacific struggled early in the first period as the Anteaters got themselves out to a 3-0 lead within the first five minutes of the quarter. The Tigers gathered themselves, and made one last push towards the end of the period. Milcovich scored his first of the contest with :03 remaining to cut the lead down to 3-1.
The second period saw Irvine get on the board early with goals from Jesse Hatch and Sam Figureroa to give the Eaters a 5-1 lead. In true senior fashion, Milcovich refused to let his team down and again found the back of the net with 3:50 left to play in the half, to bring the game back 5-2. Momentum was now on the Tigers' side as sophomore Austin Delong (Houston, Texas) scored with 2:46 remaining. Irvine got one more from Thomas Kruip before the half, to make it a three-goal game headed into halftime.
The start of the third period saw the Tigers put on a new-look offensive attack, as they outscored Irvine 4-2 in the period. Senior Shane Mahoney (Lodi, Calif.) and junior Grant Hollis (Redlands, Calif.) each had one goal in the quarter. Milcovich continued to put on a show as he netted too more in the period to bring the Tigers back, as they only trailed 8-7, heading into the fourth and final period.
Max Parrague scored twice for the Eaters in the fourth period to push their lead to 10-7, with 2:55 left to play. Down by three, Pacific refused to give up, as Milcovich scored his career-best fifth goal of the game with 2:34 left, to cut the lead once again, 10-8. Time continued to tick of the clock, and Pacific was doing every thing they could to bring the game back. With only :33 remaining, junior Joey Rossi (Ceres, Calif.) scored his first of the game to make it a one goal game. The Tigers could not score again, as the clock hit :00, and UC Irvine came away with the victory, 10-9.
|
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Total |
| Pacific |
1 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
9 |
| UC Irvine |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
Pacific was led by Milcovich who totaled five goals in the contest for a career-best performance. Senior Brian Domecus (Vallejo, Calif.) had 10 saves in the game.
UC Irvine was led by Brandon Johnson who scored two goals in the game.
Pacific is next in action Sunday, Nov. 16 at they travel to No. 10 Long Beach State, in an MPSF contest with playoff seeding on the line. Game time is 12:00 pm..
