STOCKTON, Calif. – In what felt like a marquee regular season showdown, the ninth-ranked Pacific men's water polo program used a big third quarter to leap in front of Team China-Shanghai and sealed the game defensively in the end to win 15-13 in a friendly at the Eberhardt Aquatics Center on Friday.
The Tigers were clinging to a 14-13 edge when China-Shanghai had the ball in the final possession and sent its goalkeeper on the offensive. Pacific made a defensive stop in the closing moments and goalkeeper
Kiss Gergely threw the ball the length of the pool for an empty-net goal as time expired.
The Tigers trailed 5-3 at the end of the first quarter and were still down 9-8 at the half. Though, freshman
Apostolos Georgaras scored the first three goals of the third quarter and Pacific never trailed again.
Georgaras, a two-time West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Week winner, netted a game-high five goals and an assist. He was joined by fellow freshman
Borisz Kasa-Gal who registered a hat trick and an assist.
Sophomore
Ori Buzaglo was a big contributor with two goals and an assist. Freshman
Petar Popovic aided the offense with a goal and two assists.
Gergely, a freshman, shined with 12 saves in net as he played all 32 minutes.
China-Shanghai hails from one of the leading water polo nations in Asia. The team is on a tour of Northern California and is participating in exhibitions throughout the region this week.
The Tigers will play another exhibition tomorrow when they host American River College in a non-streamed game at noon. Pacific's next regular season match-up is Friday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. when No. 2 USC comes to town.
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