MALIBU — Third-seeded Pepperdine defeated No. 6 seed UCSB 11-7 on Friday afternoon during the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Tournament being held this weekend at the Waves’ Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. The Gauchos outscored the Waves 4-2 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a six-goal deficit accumulated during the first three quarters.
With the loss, UCSB falls to 15-11 on the season while Pepperdine improves to a 20-6 overall season record.
The Waves jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first couple of minutes of the first quarter behind goals from Grant Miller and Adam Hewko. Senior Miles Price posted the first Gaucho goal with 3:43 on the clock in the first quarter to cut the Pepperdine lead to just one goal, but goals from J.P. MacDonell and Taylor Watson stretched the Waves’ lead to 4-1 with less than two minutes to play in the first. With 51 seconds on the clock, sophomore Milos Golic tallied his first of three goals to put the Gauchos within two points heading into the second period.
MacDonell and Golic each posted goals to open the second period before Pepperdine poured on two unanswered goals to take a 7-3 advantage leading into halftime.
The third period was all the Waves as they posted two more goals to take the most sizeable lead of the game at 9-3 while concurrently holding the Gauchos scoreless during the quarter.
Junior Jesse Tootell opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, cutting the Waves’ lead to five goals. Blake Hubbell responded a little over a minute later to put Pepperdine ahead once again by six goals. Senior Dane Lindstrom and Golic tallied consecutive goals to cut the Waves’ lead to 10-6. During the last two minutes, the two teams traded goals to bring the final score to 11-7 in favor of the Waves.
The Gauchos face No. 7 Long Beach State Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Pepperdine 11, UC Santa Barbara 7
Pepperdine…….4 3 2 2 — 11
UCSB……………..2 1 0 4 — 7
Pepperdine Goals: J.P. MacDonell 3, Adam Hewko 2, Blake Hubbell 2, Taylor Watson 1, Grant Miller 1, Jacob Young 1, Matt MacDonell 1.
Pepperdine Goalie Saves: John Hahn 8.UCSB Goals: Milos Golic 3, Miles Price 1, Jesse Tootell 1, Dane Lindstrom 1, Noah Smith 1.
UCSB Goalie Saves: Fraser Bunn 6.
