LOS ANGELES – The No. 12 LMU men's water polo team has earned a share of the inaugural WCC Championship after defeating Pacific, 21-13, Sunday afternoon.
 
The Lions finished the WCC season at 5-1, matching Pepperdine's conference record at the top of the standings. This is LMU's first title or title since 2010 when the Lions competed in the Western Water Polo Association.
 
Pacific jumped ahead 4-0 not even four minutes into the game, setting a come-from-behind scenario for the Lions similar to Friday night at Long Beach State. Tommaso Baldineti scored the first goal for LMU and then Augie Renezeder followed on the next possession to cut the deficit in half. After the Tigers jumped ahead 6-2, goalkeeper Stelios Dalmaras fired a shot the length of the pool with time expiring to give the Lions a much-needed third goal in the period.
 
Rafael Salonikios and Abel Romero Corbalan scored consecutive goals to open the second and bring the Lions back within one. Pacific responded with the next two goals before Romero Corbalan and Baldineti scored back-to-back to make it an 8-7 game. After Pacific scored to go up two, Romero Corbalan and Harbey scored in the same minute to tie the game at 9-9, and Harvey pushed LMU ahead for the first time with a goal at 1:56 to play in the half. The Tigers took a halftime lead after scoring the final two goals of the period.
 
Pacific opened the second half with a goal, but the Lions scored the final four of the fourth to build a 14-12 advantage that they would not give up. Baldineti, Harvey, Romero Corbalan, and Jonny Rimlinger each scored down the stretch in the third.
 
The fourth quarter was all LMU as the Lions outscored Pacific, 7-1 in the period. Denzel Tate scored his first, Harvey added two to finish at five goals on five shots, Renezeder and Salonikios each scored another, Jack Dunbar nailed a penalty shot, and Alex Marlow put an exclamation mark on the game in LMU's final possession.
 
Dalmaras made four saves with the goal and two assists, but it was Finn Friedland's five saves in relief that secured victory for the Lions.
 
LMU will play in the opening game of the WCC Championships on Friday, Nov. 17 as the two-seed. The Lions will face seventh-seeded Air Force at 10:00 in Malibu.
 
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