UCI Loses Third-Place Water Polo Match
Pepperdine defeated UC Irvine, 9-7, in the third-place match of the NCAA water polo championships Sunday at Belmont Plaza.
It was the highest finish ever for Pepperdine (24-7), which seemed to play with more enthusiasm than Irvine (21-2).
“The guys definitely wanted it,” Pepperdine Coach Terry Schroeder said. “It was something that we talked about as a building block for the program.”
Conversely, Irvine seemed a little flat.
“It’s just really hard to play three hard games in a row,” Irvine two-meter man Steve Gill said. “(Saturday against California) we didn’t have anything to lose--it wasn’t stressful at all. Today . . . well, personally, it was hard to get up for it.”
Gill and Marc Hunt each scored twice for Irvine, and Geoffrey Clark and Steve Long each scored three goals for Pepperdine.
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