MALIBU, Calif. - The No. 6 UC San Diego men's water polo team fell to No. 5 Pepperdine 11-9 on Thursday afternoon in Malibu, Calif. With the loss, the Tritons drop to 20-5 on the season. The Waves outscored the Tritons by one goal in the second and third periods, making the difference in the match. UCSD was led by Jonathan Hopkins with three goals while Brandon Borso and Adnan Jerkovic scored two apiece. Chris Finegold and Chris Eichholz also scored for UCSD. Colin McElroy had 12 saves.
The Tritons were down 3-1 in the first period, but Hopkins netted goals at 2:38 and :57 to tie the game 3-3 at the end of one.
Pepperdine scored the first three goals of the second quarter before Eichholz and Finegold netted back-to-back scores to bring the Tritons back into the game, trailing 6-5 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Pepperdine struck first to go-ahead 7-5. Borso then answered at the 5:40 mark to bring UCSD back within one. Pepperdine would score two more times in the period to extend the lead to 9-6. Borso netted his second goal of the period to bring UCSD within 9-7 after three quarters.
The Tritons and Waves traded goals in the fourth period as the Waves had their second win over the Tritons in as many matches.
UCSD is back in action on Friday, October 21, when it travels to take on 4th-ranked UCLA in Los Angeles, Calif. Gametime is set for 1:00 p.m.
