Staff Writer

Waves able to escape victorious against LMU in a close battle throughout the contest.

This past Saturday at the Burns Aquatic Center, the Pepperdine Waves (3-1) held on for the close victory against the LMU Lions (3-1), winning the nail biter, 8-7.

“We should have killed them,” said sophomore attacker, Blake Hubbell.

Coming out of a successful tournament, Pepperdine knew it had something to prove. With two new strong Serbians on the team, LMU was ready to battle.

“We are better than a one-goal win over LMU,” said head coach Jack Kocur. “And, we can’t play down to our competitor’s level.”

In the first quarter, the Waves jumped to a 2-0 lead. Senior center back Grant Miller scored a goal on a 6-on-5 offense. Pepperdine had 14 chances to score, when it had a one-player advantage, but ended up only scoring on three of those opportunities.

Junior center Clayton Snyder scored the other goal in the first quarter.

“It’s good to finish those early shots to set the tone for the game,” he said.

Thanks to the help of senior goalkeeper Jack Curley, Pepperdine kept the Lions at only one goal in the first quarter.

Senior attacker Adam Hewko started the second quarter with a strong goal that gave Pepperdine a 3-0 lead. Soon after, the Lions responded with a goal of its own. With a Pepperdine exclusion, LMU took advantage and scored again, making the score 3-2.

Junior attacker Taylor Watson scored again on an LMU exclusion. Fifty-two seconds later, Hewko scored his second goal of the game, putting the waves up by three. Another Pepperdine ejection took place, and the Lions put in another goal with 20 seconds remaining, making the score 5-3.

Senior utility Matt MacDonell put one in early in the third quarter, but, within the next minute, LMU put in a goal itself. The Lions added another goal to out score the Waves by two goals in this period, bringing LMU within one at 5-6.

The game was then tied at 6-6, with LMU getting a goal from another Pepperdine exclusion. In the 2-meter position, MacDonell scored his second goal of the game. But, once again, the Lions tied the match with a little over five minutes on the clock, knotting up the score once again at 7-all.

Miller scored the final goal for the Waves on a very successful man-up opportunity. At the end of the game, Curley was credited with five saves to lead the team in the victory.

According to Clayton Snyder, the Waves hope the win will give the team some momentum and help launch it into a higher level of play.

“We wanted to make a statement,” Snyder said.  “We are a more consistent team this year.”

The Waves will finish its road trip in the NorCal Tournament on Sept. 20 and 21, which will be hosted by University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.

09-18-2008