Stockton, Calif. – Junior Balazs Erdelyi scored a game-high five goals but the Pacific men's water polo team dropped its regular season finale to visiting California, 11-9, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match Sunday, Nov. 18. The loss dropped the Tigers to 12-10 (3-5 MPSF) on the year while the Golden Bears improved to 15-7 (5-3 MPSF) with the win.
The five scores upped Erdelyi's league-leading goal count to 76 on the year. Freshman Aleksandar Petrovic added a pair of goals, extending his streak of multi-goal games to six. Junior goalkeeper Alex Malkis blocked 16 shots in a complete-game effort.
The Golden Bears went on the attack early, scoring four of the game's first five goals. California led 3-1 after the first quarter before going up by three on a power-play goal early in the second. Erdelyi scored the first of his two second-period goals at the 5:45 mark to stop the visitors' run, and his second score made it a two-goal game, 5-3, heading into halftime.
The third quarter saw California go back up by three early before consecutive goals from Pacific, the first from Petrovic and the second from Erdelyi, brought the Tigers back to within one, 6-5, with 1:55 on the clock. The Golden Bears responded with a run of their own, ripping off three consecutive goals to take a 9-5 lead with 39 seconds left in the period. Erdelyi got his hat trick on a late goal that cut the visitors' advantage to three with one quarter left to play.
The Tigers pulled to within two twice early in the fourth period, but both times California had an answer for Pacific's offense. Petrovic's second goal of the game came with two minutes remaining, but would end up being the final score for either team as the Golden Bears' defense secured the win.
Marin Balarin and Aleksa Saponjic led California with three goals apiece. Goalkeeper Jon Sibley finished with nine saves.
The Tigers will travel to the MPSF Tournament in Los Angeles next weekend where it will face second-seeded UCLA in a first-round match. The game is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. at USC's McDonald's Swim Stadium.
No. 4 California 11, No. 5 Pacific 9
California 3 – 2 – 4 – 2 –– 11
Pacific 1 – 2 – 3 – 3 –– 9
Goals
Pacific – Erdelyi 5, Petrovic 2, Oliveira, Oneto
California – Balarin 3, Saponjic 3, Cupido 2, Cox, Kelly, Smith
Goalkeeper Saves
Pacific – Malkis 17
California – Sibley 9
