SAN JOSE, Calif. – On the second day of the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament, the #15 Pacific men's water polo team manufactured a fourth-period offensive surge to secure a 15-13 victory over Bucknell Saturday at Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center.
With their ninth win at a neutral site this season, the Tigers improve to 11-7 overall. The Bison drop under .500 to 10-11 overall.
Junior
Gil Gvishi was one goal shy of tying a season-high in goals with five tallies on a career-high 11 shot attempts against the Bison. For the third time this season, junior
Daniel Viscia found the back of the net four times, including a pair of goals in the Tigers' fourth-period push.
Fifth-year senior
Rene Peralta set a career-high in assists with four helpers today to go along with a goal for a five-point performance. Graduate student
Stefan Vavic netted a hat trick, which featured the game-winning goal with a minute left in the fourth quarter. Freshman
Spencer Burdack added a goal and two assists in the effort offensively for his 10th multi-point game of the campaign.
While senior
Lewis Gale started the game in goal and freshman
John Winters entered in the second quarter, it was freshman
Benjamin Gronbach who came up with his first collegiate win, making two saves and two steals in a strong defensive second half by the Tigers.
Bucknell got off to a strong start, carrying a 7-5 lead at halftime. The Tigers made the necessary adjustments after the midway point, figuring out the Bison defense and scoring four times in the third period.
In the fourth quarter, the Tigers found the back of the net six times, including the game's final four goals in the last three minutes of the contest. Back-to-back goals on the man-advantage by Viscia and Burdack tied the game up at the 2:02 marker of the fourth frame.
After a save on defense by the Tigers, Vavic capitalized on a great pass by Peralta, bouncing in a shot to give Pacific its first lead of the game. Another stop by the defense put a bow on the 15-13 victory as Viscia iced the game with his fourth goal of the day with 23 seconds left.
Pacific wraps up play in the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament at 8 a.m. tomorrow against #18 Harvard at Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center.
