STOCKTON, Calif. - The No. 3 Pacific men's water polo team (15-3, 4-0 GCC) captured a share of the regular season Golden Coast Conference title Saturday afternoon with a 19-9 win over No. 15 UC Irvine (6-12, 0-4 GCC) on Senior Day at Chris Kjeldsen Pool. 

Luke Pavillard, Luis Araya, Engin Ege Colak, Andrea De Nardi and Jay Halva were all honored before the match as each senior scored at least once in the Tigers' 2019 home finale. 

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

• With the win over No. 15 UC Irvine, the Tigers clinched at least a share of the regular season Golden Coast Conference title and will have a chance to claim it outright in their regular season finale at San Jose State on Nov. 16.
• UOP remains at the top of the GCC standings as the only team with an undefeated record (4-0) in conference play. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 

• Pacific jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the match, an advantage that stretched into the second period. 
• All five seniors found the back of the cage for Pacific on Saturday afternoon, which seemed to be a fitting send-off for one of the most prolific senior classes in program history. 
• Jeremie Cote paced the Tiger offense in the match, netting four goals on five shots while also adding two assists in the win.

FIRST PERIOD: 

• Pavillard scored two of the Tigers' first three goals within the initial three minutes of the contest. With these goals, the redshirt senior from Perth, Australia has now reached the 50 goal mark for the third year in a row.
• The Tigers jumped out to a commanding 7-0 lead after the opening frame thanks to goals from three of the five seniors. 

SECOND PERIOD:

• Aiming to get Pacific out in front of the Anteaters, Cote and Colak both scored their second goals of the match at 7:19 and 6:34 respectively, extending the Tigers lead to 9-0 midway through the second period.
•  Looking to keep their momentum heading into the locker room, Araya, Cote and sophomore Bogdan Djerkovic closed out the half with three consecutive goals, giving UOP a comfortable 12-2 lead at the break.

THIRD PERIOD:

• Playing in his final home match in the Orange and Black, Jay Halva got on the scoresheet as he found the back of the cage just 41 seconds into the third period, recording his fifth goal on the year and first since September 27 against Loyola Marymount. 
• Keeping the pressure, Djerkovic and Cote both scored again for Pacific as the Tigers held a 15-4 advantage over UC Irvine heading into the final frame.

FOURTH PERIOD:

• Pleasing the home crowd one final time, Araya scored for the second time at the 5:58 mark to keep UOP on top by eleven.
• Additionally, Wyatt Barker and Rene Peralta joined the goal party as they both found the back of the cage on back-to-back goals in a span of 31 seconds midway through the final period.
• Despite a few Anteater goals to close out the match, the Tigers would go on to close out the victory, 19-9, remaining undefeated in conference play and clinching at least a share of the 2019 regular season GCC crown.

WHAT COACH GRAHAM SAID:
On team's performance and looking ahead: "I'm really happy with our performance overall. I felt like we put together a great three quarters of water polo, because we kind of relaxed a little bit in the fourth quarter. That being said, I'm never satisfied as there are a lot of things we can build on from this week. Irvine is a great team, so we had to put together a great performance to come out with the victory. Hopefully we can continue this momentum all the way into conference, but next week we got San Jose State in a really tough game at their home pool, so we're going to have to be ready as we have no time to relax."

On all five seniors scoring: "That part really made me proud... they all contribute a lot to the program in a lot of different ways. Some of it's on the scoreboad, some of it's on defense, some of it's in the team culture, so to see them all get rewarded today on their Senior Day is very fitting to a group that has done a lot for our program over the last four to five years. They are just a great group of guys and I'm super happy for all of them."

UP NEXT:
Pacific will hit the road one last time as the Tigers travel to the Bay Area to face San Jose State on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 12:00 pm. Following their defeat of the Anteaters, UOP is looking to close out the regular season with a perfect 5-0 record in conference play in their matchup against the Spartans. Video and live stats links are available on pacifictigers.com.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on Pacific men's water polo, be sure to follow along on Twitter @UOPWaterPoloU, on Instagram @PacificWaterPolo and on Facebook @PacificMensWaterPolo.