MALIBU, CA – Pepperdine junior holeman Jeremy Pope registered four goals to lead No. 1 ranked Pepperdine to a 6-4 victory over No. 2 ranked California in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men’s water polo match.
The Waves shot out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period on the strength of two Pope goals. Pope would score his third goal of the contest midway through the second period, but not before California’s Brad Kittredge and Phinney Gardner scored goals of their own to close the score to 3-2 at the intermission.
Despite second half goals by California’s Gardner and Eldad Hazor, Pepperdine junior Todd King, senior Alex Rodiguez and Pope would all notch second half goals to secure the MPSF victory for the Waves before a crowd of more than 500 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
Pepperdine’s junior goalkeeper Merrill Moses recorded five saves on the afternoon, including a number of outstanding efforts to secure the win for the Waves.