BERKELEY, Calif. - The trio of - Djorde Stanic, Jeremie Cote and Reuel D'Souza - led the No. 8 University of the Pacific men's water polo team to a 20-15 win over No. 12 Pepperdine in the opening round of the MPSF Championships at the Spieker Aquatics Complex on Friday.
 
Stanic had seven points (5 goals, 2 assists), Cote recorded six points (3 goals, 3 assists) and D'Souza also had six points (4 goals, 2 assists) to provide the firepower in the win. 
 
Pepperdine was led by a six-point (1 goal, 5 assists) effort from Balazs Kosa, plus Nicholas Fichman had four goals in the loss.
 
How it happened…
After Pepperdine scored on its first possession, Pacific scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead as Manuel Pemberty and two goals from Cote put the Tigers ahead. Pepperdine came back to the contest at three, four and seven until back-to-back goals by Matthew Hosmer and Stanic just before halftime put Pacific ahead for the remainder of the match. Twice, the Wave cut the Tiger lead to one but each time there was an answer by the Pacific offense in the win. The Tigers closed out the win, outscoring Pepperdine by a 6-3 margin in the final quarter. 

A key to the victory
Pacific went 8-for-15 (.533) on the power play while holding Pepperdine to 1-for-8 (.125) in the win. 
 
Up next for Pacific is a matchup against No. 1 UCLA at 10:40 a.m., a win sends the Tigers to the semifinals and a matchup on Saturday at 5:20 p.m., whereas a loss will send them to the consolation bracket and a second match on Saturday at 4 p.m.