UCI Loses Third-Place Water Polo Match
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LONG BEACH — 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.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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