MALIBU, Calif. --- UC Irvine was never able to fully recover from a fast Pepperdine start as the Waves topped the Anteaters, 11-9, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu Saturday.
Pepperdine, ranked 11th in the nation, scored on its first four possessions in the opening 2:50 before UCI's Larson Pfeil put the 'Eaters on the board at the 4:41 mark.
The Waves led 5-3 after one quarter and built the lead back up to four goals at 9-5 at halftime
The teams each scored once in the third period before the 10th-ranked 'Eaters closed the gap to one at 10-9 on three consecutive goals to begin the fourth quarter from Ryan Warde (7:31), Jared Osborn (6:38) and Lovre Milos (3:47).
Jake Schrimpf scored his third goal of the day for Pepperdine with 2:50 remaining for the final margin. Wesley Sherburne also had three scores for the Waves (9-11, 1-5 MPSF).
Osborn led UCI (13-9, 1-5) with two goals.
"We came out flat, we were slow to the ball, almost lethargic, and Pepperdine took advantage," UCI head coach Marc Hunt said.
"It took two quarters for us to get going, which is unacceptable. We gave up nine (goals) in the first half and two in the second. Do that to a good team, and you cannot expect to win. The defense has to improve.
"We made a good surge in the fourth quarter to cut it to a one-goal lead, then made some costly errors with exclusions and lost momentum. We made it a strong second half, however, we must make it a strong full game to succeed.
"(Byron) Rivers did a good job, coming in earlier than expected, and helped secure a solid 3.5 quarters in the cage," Hunt added.
The 'Eaters travel to UC San Diego next Saturday for a non-conference game before hosting USC next Sunday (Nov. 9) in an MPSF contest at the Anteater Aquatics Complex. Both games have 12:00 p.m. starts.
UC Irvine 3-2-1-3 --- 9
Pepperdine 5-4-1-1 --- 11
UCI: Jared Osborn 2, Miles Kalbus, Lovre Milos, Justin Papa, Larson Pfeil, Alan Robertson, Kyle Trush, Ryan Warde.
PEP: Jake Schrimpf 3, Wesley Sherburne 3, Luke Hewko 2, Kenneth Keller, Brock Liebhardt, Thomas Patten.
Saves: Dylan Peterson (UCI) 0; Byron Rivers (UCI) 8; Zack Rhodes (Pep) 16.
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