Rankings: The Tigers are currently ranked No. 6 spot in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association national poll for the second-straight week. The No. 6 spot is the highest to date for the Pacific in 2021.
Last Meeting: The last meeting between the Tigers and the Spartans saw Pacific come away with a 12-11 overtime win in the season opener on Sept. 4.
Reuel D'Souza broke an 11-11 tie and scored the game-winning goal with 1:08 left in the second overtime. Earlier in the contest, D'Souza scored his second goal of the contest to tie the contest at 11 with 2:06 left in the second extra period.
Series History: Pacific has won the last nine meetings dating back to 2015 against San Jose State. The one-goal victory by Pacific in the previous meeting is the closest in the previous nine meetings.
Last Time Out: The Tigers lost to No. 1 University of Southern California, 16-9 last Saturday. In the loss, the Tigers got a pair of four-goal efforts by the Tigers'
Jeremie Cote and Djorde Stanic.
Scoring Machine: Jeremie Cote leads Pacific with 30 goals on 73 shots. He is one of five Tigers with at least 15 goals on the season including
Bogdan Djerkovic (18), Djorde Stanic (17),
Matthew Hosmer (15) and Mihailo Vukacic(15). The 30 goals by Cote ranks third in the GCC.
Sharing the Wealth: Djorde Stanic leads the Pacific team with 16 assists - which ranks fifth in the GCC.
Last Line of Defense: Goalkeeper John Hodges has made 129 saves on the season with a season-high 21 against UCSB on Sept. 26, 2021. The 129 saves are the eighth most in the nation. He ranks second nationally with 11.7 saves per game.
Pre-Season Polls: The Pacific men's water polo team was selected seventh in the National Top-20 poll released by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA). In addition, the Tigers were picked second in the preseason Golden Coast Conference (GCC) preseason poll. UC Santa Barbara (25 points, 4 first place votes) earned the top spot in the GCC preseason poll, followed by Pacific (21, 1 first place vote) second with Long Beach State (14) and Pepperdine (13) rounding out the top four.
