Photo Courtesy of Matthew Balentine, The Los Angeles Loyolan
Men’s water polo fought hard against Loyola Marymount at the Wells Fargo PCH Cup in Los Angeles but lost 9-10 on Sept. 14.
The LMU Lions (2-3) began the match with two consecutive goals.
“A lot of guys seemed too fired up and psyched themselves out a little bit,” senior Mike Tragitt said. “It was our first meaningful game of the year.”
The Lions continued to lead through the second quarter, scoring two goals in the first two minutes.
“Our goal was to crush LMU and start off the game really strong, which led to a lot of confusing situations at the beginning,” junior Marko Madaras said. “We had a lot of opportunities to score, but we couldn’t finish our shots the way we wanted to.”
With only one second remaining in the half, junior Marko Madaras changed the momentum of the game with a buzzer shot.
The Waves were determined not to let the Lions loose on another run.
“We collectively calmed down and played the way we know we are supposed to,” Tragitt said.
Senior Danny White was fouled with 1:34 remaining on the clock in the fourth but was only allowed to take one of two penalty shots. Even though White scored, the Waves still lagged behind 8-10 at the end of regulation.
Officials then agreed on a rule misinterpretation during the foul and recalled their one-shot decision. The game rewound to 1:34 on the clock, with the score set back to 7-10.
White buried both of his penalty shots, but with the score at 9-10, the team’s chance to tie the score disappeared at the sound of the buzzer.
“LMU had a great game plan and played superbly,” Tragitt said. “We clearly have some things to work on, but it’s early in the season and we can use this game as a growing experience and make us a tighter group.”
_____________________________________________________________________________
Follow Alenni Nemitz on Twitter: @alooney_toons94
As published in the Sept. 19 issue of the Pepperdine Graphic.