DAVIS, Calif. – A five-game weekend ends in five wins for the #5 Pacific men's water polo team (10-1) after its trip to the 2022 Aggie Roundup at UC Davis.
"We did our job and finished a very tough weekend 5-0," said Head Coach James Graham. "Proud of the team, but there are many opportunities to learn from this weekend. We look to iterate and be better next week."
Pacific's first game on the tournament's final day was against #14 Harvard (4-3). The Tigers won 14-11 in a rainy Sunday morning match.
Senior Bogdan Djerkovic led the Tigers with three goals. Senior co-captain Jeremie Cote, sophomore Mihailo Vukazic, senior Rene Peralta, senior Matthew Hosmer and sophomore Reuel D'Souza each netted two for the Tigers. Senior Djordje Stanic found the goal once for Pacific.
Peralta and Vukazic led the way in assists with three each. D'Souza, Stanic and Cote each had two, while senior Liam Egan had one.
Senior goalkeeper Joey MacLeane had seven saves and one steal. Vukazic had two steals for Pacific. Cote, Peralta, Hosmer and D'Souza each stole the ball once from the Crimson.
Pacific's second game on Sunday was against another Tiger team, Occidental College (1-7). Pacific came ahead with a 13-10 win. Graduate student Bae Fountain was in net for Pacific to start the game.
Sophomore Manuel Pembertty started the game for the Tigers finding the back of the net with an assist from sophomore Gil Gvishi.
Gvishi scored Pacific's second goal on a penalty shot, and Pembertty scored again with another penalty shot, bringing the score to 3-1 for Pacific with 2:50 left in the first.
Shortly after, senior Calvin Behm dents the twine with help from senior John Dickerson.
Pacific continued scoring in the first with a goal from Gvishi, assisted by Pembertty, giving Pacific a 5-1 lead.
In the second quarter, Behm opened the scoring for Pacific with an assist from junior Flynn Howarth.
Vukazic assisted D'Souza for another Pacific goal. 7-3 for Pacific with 4:33 left in the second.
Another penalty shot opportunity was taken advantage of by Flynn Howarth, who found the back of the net for Pacific's eighth goal.
Peralta scored his third of the day, first of the second game, on an assist from Pembertty. With 1:20 left in the first half, Pacific was ahead 9-4.
At the half, MacLeane came back into net for Pacific.
Behm opened the third with his third on a Pacific powerplay, with an assist from Gvishi.
Peralta assisted Gvishi on his third goal on another Pacific powerplay. With 3:33 left in the third, Pacific was up 11-5.
Egan finds the back of the net for Pacific's first goal in the fourth, making it 12-7.
Egan quickly followed up with his second, assisted by Gvishi to give Pacific its 13th and final goal of the game.
Fountain had five saves in the first half, and MacLeane had four in the second.
Pacific is back on the road next weekend for the MPSF Tournament at Stanford. The Tigers will take on UC San Diego on Friday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. You can follow along with live stats.
To stay up to date on all things Pacific men's water polo, download the Pacific Tigers Athletics mobile app and follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
