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University of the Pacific

Tigers Survive The Waves in Malibu

MALIBU, Calif. - The men's water polo team took hom a dramatic 13-12 win on Saturday in a conference match against No. 7 Pepperdine. 

Pacific (10-8) moves to an unscathed 3-0 record in the Golden Coast Conference, handing them sole possession of first place after the Waves' loss (12-10, 2-1). Pepperdine drops it's second straight match and levels out the series this year against the Tigers at 1-1.

In Case You Missed It:

  • Luke Pavillard had a stellar performance in the pool for the Tigers scoring a game-high five goals. The Waves had no answer for the reigning GCC Player of the Week as Pavillard took over in the second quarter scoring three goals in the second to give Pacific a 7-4 lead approaching half. 
  • Pepperdine crawled back into it opening the third period with three straight unanswered points to pin the match at even.
  • The Tigers found their saving grace in the final frame as Pavillard, Eli Lule, and Jonathan Cooper all scored to help UOP put the match away, 13-12. 

First Period:

  • Pepperdine drew the first goal of the game but Engin Ege Colak would score the first goal for Pacific at the 5:44 mark to help keep the Waves at bay, 1-1.
  • Bogdan Djerkovic made his way toward the goal knocking in a solo score (4:23) which pinned the two teams at 2-2.
  • Djerkovic would also make a big stop for UOP recording a field block following an exclusion by Luis Araya (1:40) to keep the score locked at 2-all. 

Second Period:

  • Pavillard kicked things off in the second period scoring his first of the match with 6:55 to go to put the Tigers back in front, 3-2.
  • Araya and Pavillard would score on back-to-back occassions for Pacific to swing the momentum in their favor.
  • Pavillard would add another goal to his total to give the Orange and Black their largest lead of the day at 7-3.
  • Pepperdine closed the period out with a goal to cut the Tiger lead to three heading into halftime.

Third Period:

  • Pepperdine's Balazs Kosa opened the second half with a 3-0 for the Waves to erase Pacific's lead and knot both teams back up at 7-7.
  • The Tigers would trade blows with the Waves as Andrea de Nardi scored at even strength (2:46) and Pavillard registered a buzzer beating goal (:07) to keep the match at 9-9 heading into the fourth.

Fourth Period:

  • Pepperdine struck first in the final frame with a goal at the 6:55 mark. It didn't take long for the Tigers to respond, however, as Pavillard (6:29) notched his fifth goal of the match to tie up the game.
  • The Tigers would go back-to-back as Araya set up Jonathan Cooper for a skip goal past the Waves' Kyle McKenney and Caleb Sandberg found Lule for his third score of the match putting UOP back up by three, 13-10. 
  • The Orange and Black would hold after that point for the victory, 13-12.

Notables:

  • Each team barely gave an inch throughout the entirety of the match as there were five ties and three lead changes. The most pivotal lead change came in favor of the Tigers in the final period as UOP erased a one-point advantage to carry their way to victory.
  • Eli Lule recorded his first hat trick of the season, just his second of his career, scoring one in the second and two big goals in the fourth to aid the Tigers.
  • Luis Araya helped find scoring opportunities for the Tigers, tallying a game-high three assists to add to his season total of 38. Araya leads the conference in assists.
  • Seven different Tigers found the back of the net in Saturday's contest, Pavillard leading all scorers with five goals. The match marks Pavillard's sixth time scoring five or more goals this season. The junior now has 65 goals on the year.
  • John Hedges recorded 10 saves for Pacific. The goalie has recorded ten or more saves in six contests for UOP. Hedges also holds a streak of ten matches with 5+ saves.

Up Next For the Tigers:

  • Pacific closes out it's weekend series tomorrow, Oct. 28th, with a 1:00 PM match against top-ranked USC.
  • The Trojans head into Uytengsu Aquatics Center with a 24-1 record and a win streak of seven matches.
  • This will be the second time these two teams square off. The first meeting coming last month as the Tigers pulled out to a 4-1 lead but ended up dropping the match by a final score of 11-8. 

 

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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