MORAGA, Calif. – Aided by a strong fourth quarter, No. 11 University of the Pacific men's water polo team (6-7, 2-2 WCC) earned a 15-11 victory at No. 20 Saint Mary's Saturday afternoon at Soda Aquatics Center.
Petar Popovic and
Yoav Rendler paced Pacific on both sides of the pool, totaling seven points apiece while leading the team with four goals and three assists. Guiding the Tigers on the defensive end, Rendler also added two steals throughout the match.
Saint Mary's jumped ahead early in the match, scoring four goals, including three straight in the final 2:22, and held a 4-1 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Borisz Kasa-Gal registered the lone goal for Pacific in the eight-minute period.
The Tigers bounced back in the second quarter, outscoring the Gaels 5-2, as the match entered halftime with the score tied at six. After Saint Mary's answered Pacific's goal at the start of the period with back-to-back tallies for a 6-2 lead, Rendler kickstarted a 4-0 scoring run at the 5:04 mark to tie the contest. Rendler scored twice, including the game-tying tally with three seconds left, while
Ori Buzaglo and
Enzo Fernandez added goals throughout the run.
Tied at nine entering the final period of play, Pacific dominated and outscored Saint Mary's 6-2 to earn the four-point 15-11 victory. Popovic led the Tigers in the fourth quarter, scoring four times, with three coming in the final 15 seconds.
Pacific returns home for just the fourth time this season when it hosts No. 7 Princeton at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18, in a nonconference contest at Chris Kjeldsen Pool at the Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center.
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