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University of the Pacific

Tigers Drop Matches With Stanford and Pepperdine

PALO ALTO, Calif. - The men's water polo team dropped two close matches in Day Two of the MPSF Invite on Saturday. Pacific would rally back from a deficit but fall in a heartbreaker to No. 1 Stanford, 14-13, early in the afternoon. The Orange and Black would also drop their nonconference friendly against No. 8 Pepperdine by a final score of 13-9. 

This pins the Tigers with an overall record of 7-7. Stanford keeps it's unbeaten streak alive at 12-0 while Pepperdine moves to 11-7 on the year.

Pacific 

Pacific vs. Stanford - In Case You Missed It: 

  • Engin Ege Colak picked up where he left off on Friday's career-performance night. The junior attacker paved the way for the Tigers with two first period goals and one goal in the third and final period for a team-high four.
  • Pacific kept themselves in contention through the majority of the first half holding a Stanford margin by just two goals. The Cardinal would end up going on a 4-0 run however to end the second period and send them into halftime with the lead.
  • Four separate Tigers scored eight second half goals to put UOP back in position and slim down the deficit. Colak and Pavillard tallied five of those goals in the third and fourth periods.

 

First Period:

  • The Cardinal exchanged the first blow of the match scoring on their opening possesion to go up 1-0.
  • Pacific quickly responded with a drive of their own at the 7:01 mark as Colak registered his first goal of the day to tie the game up, 1-1.
  • Stanford would score two consecutive goals before Andrea De Nardi got on the board (5:20) to give the Tigers a lift, down one.
  • Colak found the back of the net for his second in the quarter in the 4th minute to cut the lead and knot up the match at 3. Stanford closed the period out with two consecutive goals however. 

Second Period:

  • Luis Araya capitalized on a Stanford exclusion with 5:20 to go, sending a ball passed the Stanford keeper to keep UOP within distance, 4-6.
  • Araya netted in another goal just a minute later (4:05) to keep the Cardinal on their heels, now up by just one.
  • Stanford found a surge at the end of the quarter going on a 4-0 unanswered run to gain their largest lead of the day, 10-5.

Third Period:

  • Colak started the third on a good note for UOP, scoring their first goal of the half to chip away at the Cardinal lead, 10-6.
  • After two Stanford goals, Jay Halva recorded a score (2:17) keeping the Tigers in it. 
  • Araya got on the board once more, giving him a hat trick for the contest, and Pavillard closed out the period with a goal to put the match at 13-9 heading into the final frame. 

Fourth Period:

  • Both teams traded a goal to start out the fourth period.
  • Pacific would hold Stanford and keep the Cardinal scoreless following the 6 minute mark tallying a spree of 3-0 straight unanswered goals. 
  • Colak, Pavillard, and Jonathan Cooper would each score but it would not be enough as the Tigers fell by one. 

 

Pacific vs. Pepperdine - In Case You Missed It: 

  • Andrea De Nardi recorded his first hat trick of the season scoring goals in the second, third and fourth period for the Tigers.
  • UOP went on a 2-0 run in the final minute of the third quarter fighting back from being down 9-6 to trailing by just one.
  • The Tigers would trail from behind throughout the whole match against the Waves, tying the game up five times but unfortunately being unable to grab the lead.

First Period:

  • Pepperdine would start off the match with two straight goals.
  • De Nardi, Araya, and Eli Lule would all help contribute in tying the contest up at 2-all and 3-all. 
  • The Waves would close out the first with one more goal in the final seconds (:04).

Second Period: 

  • Both teams would go back-and-forth having three ties in the period to be locked up a 6-6 with under six minutes to go in the half.
  • The Waves found a way to score, however, scoring on consecutive drives to amp their lead back up to two, 8-6.
  • This sent both teams into halftime.

Third Period:

  • Pacific and Pepperdine were held scoreless through four minutes to open up the third.
  • The Waves scored in the third minute to push the score to 9-6.
  • Jonathan Cooper and De Nardi swung the momentum back in favor of the Tigers scoring two goals in the final minute. 
  • This gave Pacific a chance, trailing by just one heading into the final eight minutes of play.

Fourth Period:

  • The Tigers would only be allowed one goal in the final period off a shot by Caleb Sandberg (3:42).
  • The Waves scored four additional goals in the frame to take the victory.

Notables:

  • Luis Araya, Ege Colak, and Luke Pavillard each recorded hat tricks in Pacific first match of the day against Stanford. Araya has three, Colak has eight, and Pavillard has a team-leading ten matches with three or more goals. 
  • Andrea De Nardi clinched his first official hat trick of the season. The junior now has 14 goals on the year, scoring in all but just four matches this season for Pacific.
  • Two underclassmen found the back of the cage for the Orange and Black on Saturday: Jonathan Cooper and Caleb Sandberg. Sandberg now has eight goals and Cooper has four on the year. 

Up Next For the Tigers:

  • The Tigers close out the weekend Sunday morning with a match against Long Beach State.
  • The match is set for 10:00 AM at Avery Aquatics Center.
  • The 49ers are 7-8 on the year following losses to USC and UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.

For the latest on Pacific men's water polo athletics make sure to visit the Tigers via social media on Twitter and Instagram.  

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