The Pepperdine men’s rugby team was within one meter of victory against Loyola Marymount on Saturday, coming just short of the goal and the win against the Lions, losing 22-20, at Alumni Field.
We just didn’t capitalize on a couple plays down the stretch said junior second row Mac Jacobs. The last play we were on the one meter line and just weren’t able to find the goal … We just didn’t play our best game.”
The disappointing outcome marked the last contest of the season for the Waves who finished with a 3-4 overall record. The postseason kicks off on Saturday April 4.
Pepperdine’s first foe heading into the playoffs will be the same Lions who defeated the Waves on Saturday. However junior co-captain and hooker Jake Adams said he does not believe the loss will have any lasting effects on the team.
“It wasn’t a psychological defeat because we know we can beat them Adams said. There were a couple key tackles we missed and they scored when they shouldn’t have. Our offense did fairly well but we just missed some opportunities also. I think what it did was give us more of a hunger to win going into the playoffs.”
Adams also said the outcome of the game did not change the Waves’ seeding in the playoffs as they would have played LMU regardless of the final score. The team was also missing a couple key players such as senior Mason Rudy and junior Mark Burcham who was out with an elbow injury. Jacobs said he hopes the two-week break will allow time for these players to return.
“We’ve got to get healthy Jacobs said. [Senior] Chris Garcia came in and played phenomenal but we definitely need to get healthy and stay in shape over the break going into the playoffs.”
Although a healthy lineup is paramount for any team going into the playoffs Adams said there are other key areas that need to be improved so the team can compete to its full potential.
“A lot of what we need to work on is our kicking Adams said. It’s a very correctable improvement that needs to be made. It doesn’t require a lot more skill. We just have to make adjustments and get the fundamentals down.”
According to Adams one of the Waves’ biggest assets going into the postseason is their back line. A vital cog of any good rugby team they are responsible for getting the ball out of the pack and swung to the sides as efficiently as possible. With the back line anchoring the team’s offense the Waves expect to use this strength to help carry them forward.
“Honestly we think we’re better [than LMU] Jacobs said. We just have to get healthy and execute better. Two of our loses were by three points and two points so we know we can compete with anybody.”