Stockton, Calif. - Kale Ai scored a career-high four goals as the No. 2 Pacific men's water polo team closed the regular season with a 12-8 win over No. 8 Long Beach State Saturday. The Tigers (22-3; 8-1 MPSF) set program records for regular season wins and conference wins while completing an undefeated home season.
Ai turned a tight 6-5 contest into a comfortable Pacific lead by scoring three consecutive goals wrapped around halftime for his first career hat trick, and tacked on his fourth with 1:37 remaining.
Aleksandar Petrovic also added a hat trick, while Ben Stevenson scored twice. Krizstian Laczkovics, Alex Obert and Tim Reeves each scored for Pacific. Brady Moore posted nine saves and three steals in net before giving way to fellow senior Zach Paxton in the final 1:37 of Senior Day.
The Tigers had already clinched the second seed in the MPSF Tournament, but won an eighth MPSF game for the first time in program history. The Tigers' previous best mark was a 7-1 MPSF crown in 2013 (San Jose State joined the conference this season as the MPSF schedule increased to nine).
Laczkovics opened the scoring from the near side with a lefty finish just 26 seconds into the game. Long Beach State answered with a backhanded goal from Duncan Lynde in the post.
Petrovic gave Pacific a 2-1 lead as he picked his spot from four meters away. An unusual abandonment of his traditional power game, Petrovic softly pushed his shot into the open top right corner with 2:46 to go in the first. The 49ers countered as Chandler Kaltenbach put a shot just under the bar and Moore couldn't get a full grip for a two-handed pulldown.
The Tigers took the lead again as Petrovic sent an entry pass in the two-meter for Reeves, who spun and with a backhand shot put the fresh Kap7 into the back of the net. But just before the end of the quarter, LBSU drew an exclusion and Kaltenbach quickly fired it home on a restart to tie the game at 3-3.
In the second, Stevenson eyed an open lower right corner and skipped in a shot from distance. Lovro Miocevic responded as he took an inside-out pass from Kaltenbach on the post and slipped it in to make it 4-4 with 6:28 left in the second.
Stevenson picked up his second goal on a cross-pool pass from Devon Thumwood, one of Thumwood's three assists on the day. The Tigers took a two-goal lead for the first time with the man-advantage when Stevenson lobbed a pass to the back post and Obert slammed it home. The 49ers trimmed the lead to 6-5 when Lynde finished inside from three meters out.
On the power-play, Ai converted on a cross-pool pass from Ikko Saito and put the Tigers up 7-5 with 3:18 left in the half. With 1:22 to go in the quarter, Ai finished on the doorstep off a Thumwood pass for an 8-5 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was a defensive stalemate until Ai complete the hat trick from four meters out, ripping a shot past LBSU keeper Pavo Ljepopio with 31 seconds left in the period to complete his hat trick.
The 49ers narrowed the margin to 9-6 when Jaco Fujioka used an up and under move to get around a defender, move inside and find room to hit the top right corner.
But Petrovic had the answer as the Tigers ran a quick push in transition, Moore hit Stevenson on a long breakout pass up the sideline and Stevenson put it into the two meter for Petrovic who was all alone, caught the pass above his head and spun with the backhand into the top corner.
With 5:43 left, Petrovic capped his hat trick off a pass from Thumwood, finishing cross-cage for an 11-6 lead
After a pair of defensive stops, Lee Griffin tallied for Long Beach State, but Ai answered back with another goal from up top and a 12-7 lead.
The Tigers subbed in Paxton in goal and liberally used the bench with Josh Tice tallying with 1:11 to play. Pacific posted the stop on defense and Paxton drifted into the corner as the clock ran down on the victory.
Pacific heads to the MPSF Tournament which opens Thursday at Southern Cal. The Tigers will await their quarterfinal opponent, facing the winner of the 10 vs 7 game in Friday's quarters. UC Irvine is locked into the seven-seed, but Sunday's action will determine the 10 seed.
The Tigers quarterfinal game is set for Friday at 2:30 p.m.
