MALIBU, Calif. – Future conference foes LMU and Pepperdine added another chapter to the PCH Cup rivalry on Saturday morning in Malibu as the No. 15 Lions took down the No. 9 Waves, 13-10, to remain undefeated on the year.
Pepperdine scored the game's first goal on an opening possession counter goal, before LMU responded with the final five of the first period to take and hold the lead for the remainder of the day.
David Carrasco scored back-to-back goals coming at 2:30 then 2:07 to push the Lions ahead, 2-1. Over the final 1:23, LMU scored three unanswered goals as
Blazo Mitrovic started with a converted five-meter penalty goal.
Bruno Salonikios followed off an
Aden Mina assist and Mitrovic closed out the period by scoring with five ticks remaining on the clock.
The Waves scored the first goal of the second period before LMU again answered.
Jonny Rimlinger, Mitrovic, and
Rafael Salonikios scored over a three-minute span to increase the lead to 8-2. After the home side got one back, Mitrovic scored his fourth of the half to give LMU a 9-3 advantage. Pepperdine appeared to cut into the lead with 11 seconds on the clock, but goalkeeper
Stelios Dalmaras scored as time expired to give LMU a 10-4 advantage at intermission.
Dalmaras played his first career game for the Lions and made save after save to make an immediate impact. In his first game in the cage, Dalmaras made eight saves with two steals and the goal.
The third quarter began with three LMU goals as
Joseph Cavazos, Mitrovic, and
Rafael Salonikios extended the lead to 13-4 with 1:32 remaining on the clock. Pepperdine scored the final goal of the third quarter and all five goals of the fourth quarter, but the LMU lead was too large as the Lions early onslaught proved to be enough to complete the upset.
After taking the Waves to overtime last season, this was the year that LMU snapped the 11-game unbeaten streak dating back to 2014.
This is the first win for the Lions against a top-10 opponent since last year's 11-10 comeback win over ninth-ranked San Jose State Spartans.
The Lions will have an opportunity to pull off a second upset win of the season this weekend with Sunday's home game against No. 4 Stanford. Fans will be able to attend the 11 AM game for free from Burns Aquatics Center.
