SAN JOSE, Calif. – The No. 4 Pacific men's water polo team (16-3, 5-0) has officially pulled off the three-peat as GCC Regular Season Champions after defeating No. 12 San Jose (7-18, 1-4), 13-8, on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the win, the Tigers claimed the coveted title outright as Pacific finished the regular season as the only team in the GCC to notch an undefeated record in conference play.
 
 
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

• Making a push for his third consecutive GCC Player of the Year award, redshirt senior Luke Pavillard scored four goals for the sixth time this season in the win over the Spartans.
• Providing a spark for the offense, sophomore Wyatt Barker netted two goals in the contest as the Kentfield, Calif. native scored for the second straight game, a feat he had not accomplished since Sept. 21 when he found the back of the net once each in the Tigers wins over Ottawa and Whittier.
• Wrapping up the season in style, three other Tigers scored at least two goals in the match: Engin Ege Colak (2), Djordje Stanic (2) and Matthew Hosmer (3).

 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Pacific capitalized throughout the match when they needed to, outscoring SJSU on powerplays 7-13 to 4-14. The Tigers also converted both of their five-meter penalty shots.
• UOP took control of the match from the beginning, never looking back after jumping out to a 2-1 lead at the end the first period.
• Jonathan Barry continued to make his case as one of the top goalies in the country as the redshirt freshman racked up 8 saves and 1 steal in the cage in route to his 16th victory of the season.

 
FIRST PERIOD:

• With neither team scoring in the first two minutes of the match, Pavillard finally netted the first goal for Pacific at the 5:55 mark to give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.
• Although the Spartans would counter with a goal of their own less than 30 seconds later, UOP regained the advantage on Hosmer's first of the day with 1:01 remaining in the opening period.
• Stifling SJSU with defense, the Tigers held a 2-1 lead after the opening frame.

 
SECOND PERIOD:

• The second period proved to be a turning point for the Pacific offense as Colak and Stanic scored their first goals of the afternoon at 7:23 and 6:32 respectively, giving the Tigers a 4-1 advantage on the scoreboard.
• Continuing the momentum, Barker found the back of the net for the first time at the 3:56 mark to extend Pacific's lead to four.
• Catching fire, Pavillard and Hosmer each tallied their second goals of the day in the final four minutes of the half as UOP blanked the Spartans in the second period to lead at the halftime break, 7-1.

THIRD PERIOD:

• SJSU would score first out of the gates in the third period, but the Tigers quickly responded as Hosmer collected his fourth hat-trick of the season at the 5:20 mark.
• Keeping Pacific out in front, Stanic netted his second of the contest with 2:00 minutes remaining in the third to push the Tiger lead to 9-3.
• The Spartans did outscore UOP 3-2 in the third period of play, but Pacific still remained in control of the match heading into the final frame, leading SJSU 9-4.

 
FOURTH PERIOD:

• Leaving no room for error, Pavillard netted his third of the match at the 6:41 mark to keep the Tigers on top of the Spartans by six. Less than one minute later, Barker scored his second of the day to make the score 11-5 in favor of Pacific.
• SJSU would respond with another goal at 5:36, but Pavillard remained scorching hot by tallying his team leading 54th goal just 13 seconds later as the Tigers remained in front of their conference rivals by six.
• Closing things out, Colak scored his second of the match at the 4:23 mark. After one more goal by SJSU at 3:51, the Tigers locked down on defense throughout the remainder of the contest to secure their third consecutive GCC regular season crown, winning by a final score of 13-8.

 
WHATS NEXT:
Although the Tigers finished the 2019 season as the only GCC team to go undefeated (5-0) in conference play, Pacific awaits the official seedings for the GCC tournament that will take place next weekend, Nov. 22-24 in Malibu. The conference is expected to release these rankings tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 17 at 10:00 am PST.
 
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on Pacific men's water polo, be sure to follow along on Twitter @UOPWaterPoloU, Instagram @PacificWaterPolo and on Facebook @PacificMensWaterPolo.