STOCKTON, Calif. – The No. 3 Pacific men's water polo team defeated No. 10 UC Davis, 12-9, on Friday night at Chris Kjeldsen Pool. With the win, UOP now moves to 10-1 on the season, their best start since 2016, when the Tigers started 11-0.
 
This victory over the Aggies marks the third time Pacific has beat a top-10 nationally ranked team in the last week, as well as their second consecutive win on the schedule.
 
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

• Redshirt senior Luke Pavillard paced the Tiger offense with goals, four assists and one steal. Pavillard's would lead both teams in goals and assists in the match. He now has tallied 37 goals and 23 assists through 11 total games, which are both team-highs.
• Matthew Hosmer continued to deliver for head coach James Graham after the freshman notched three goals in the match, the second-highest scoring output of his collegiate career (scored four goals in loss to No. 3 Standard on 09/28). Overall, his 25 total goals are good for fifth on the team.
• The Tigers will face Stanford for the second time in a week on Sunday, Oct 6. This time around, the Cardinal are ranked as the top team in the country.

 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Pacific outshot UC Davis 36-33 overall in the match, compiling a .333 shot percentage while limiting the Aggies to a .278 shot percentage.
• The Tigers were 6-12 on the power play, good for 50% on the night.
• Five different players scored for UOP, including two from reigning GCC Player of the Week, freshman Jeremie Cote.
• Jon Barry held the edge in saves, 10-9, over the Aggies' Jonah Addington.

 
FIRST PERIOD:

• After scoring 13 goals over three days at the MPSF Invitational this past weekend, Cote continued his hot streak by tallying the match's first goal at 5:52 in the first period.
• The Aggies were able to tie the match on a Spencer Towill goal at 4:49, but UOP would regain the lead as Pavillard set up senior Andrea De Nard to score at 3:47, giving the Tigers a 2-1 advantage.
• UC Davis led at the end of the first period as two more goals in the final three minutes gave the Aggies a 3-2 lead.

 
SECOND PERIOD:

• Hosmer found the equalizer for Pacific at 6:51 in the second quarter, scoring his 23^rd goal of the season as the Tigers tied the match at 3.
• Following Hosmer's goal, Pavillard would find his groove, using the momentum of the home crowd to score two straight goals (one at 6:25, one at 2:36), which gave UOP a 5-3 lead.
• The Aggies would counter with a goal of their own at the 2:11 mark, but freshman Djorde Stanic closed out the half in style, scoring with one second left on the clock to send the Tigers into the locker room with a 6-4 lead.

 
THIRD PERIOD:

• Aiming to keep Pacific out in front, Pavillard found the back of the net for the third time in the match just 19 seconds into the second half, extending the Tiger lead to 7-4 at the 7:41 mark.
• Additionally, Stanic and Hosmer would both net their second goals of the match in the third period, scoring at 5:47 and 0:03 respectively as UOP took a 9-6 lead into the fourth period.

 
FOURTH PERIOD:

• Looking to put the Aggies away for good, Hosmer wasted no time scoring his third goal of the match, extending the Tiger lead to 10-6 at the 7:18 mark.
• George Kuesis pressured the Tiger defense and cut the Pacific lead with a goal of his own at 4:26, but Pavillard responded with yet another goal for UOP 19 seconds later, marking his fourth overall goal in the contest.
• UC Davis would add two more goals in the final three minutes of the match as they attempted to come from behind , but Cote's second goal of the match, which came on an assist from Pavillard at 2:59, secured the Tigers tenth victory of the season.

 
WHAT COACH GRAHAM SAID: 
 
On the team's victory: "Davis is a really well-disciplined team. They have a lot of guys who push the tempo and work really hard. We knew this was going to be a game where we were going to have to be ready to defend for four straight quarters and really spend a lot of energy. I thought we could have pushed the energy a little higher than what it was, but some guys made some big shots and stepped up. Our goalie played solid."
 
On upcoming rematch with Stanford: "Stanford is the number one team for a reason. They present a lot of challenges, but I think we learned a lot of lessons from last weekend and we will see whether or not we will be able to execute better against them. We are going to have to play our best on Sunday in order to come out with the win. It will have to be our best game this season."
 
UP NEXT: Pacific hosts No. 1 Stanford in a rematch of the only match the Tigers have dropped so far this season. UOP, who lost 14-15 to the Cardinal on Saturday, Sept. 28 when they were ranked No. 3 overall, will aim to get revenge in their home pool. Video and live stats can be found on pacifictigers.com.