Even though the Waves home crowd was energetic and cheering loudly the No. 5-ranked Pepperdine men’s water polo team fell to No. 1-ranked USC with the final score at 14-5 Sunday afternoon.
“It was by far the toughest loss this season said senior center back Matt Digges.
The Trojan defense was tough, defending a number of Pepperdine shots and keeping them from going into the net. The highest scorer of the game was USC’s Matt Sagehorn with four goals, while senior center back Grant Miller scored two goals. USC’s goalkeeper had the most saves, with nine stopped.
In the first quarter, Pepperdine was the stronger team, taking several shots at the cage, but USC’s defense was too strong and tight. The first goal for Pepperdine was scored by Miller and came after the team answered to a Trojan goal.
Within 30 seconds, USC shot the third goal of the game and scored the final goal of the first quarter, with USC holding a two-point lead over the Waves at, 3-1.
USC had a five-point scoring streak in the second period. Finally, junior attacker J.P. MacDonell broke the scoring drought and scored the Waves’ lone-goal before halftime, making the score 8-2.
During the third period, the Waves had a five-meter penalty opportunity. The shot was blocked, and USC followed it by scoring two more goals. Junior center Clayton Snyder scored another goal for Pepperdine with 3:20 left on the clock.
Snyder started the fourth period with a strong defensive block to try and maintain hope for late-game heroics. However, with another 3-goal run by USC, today would not be the day for a comeback. Digges scored with 1:06 left in the game, and sophomore attacker Andrew Milcovich scored the final goal on a five-meter penalty shot, bring the final score to 14-5.
Following the USC match, Pepperdine played Long Beach City College with a victory of 13-9.
Sophomore attacker Blake Hubbell led the offensive with five goals, while Milcovich scored three. Freshman centerback Sean Cook also contributed two goals.
As far as the future goes I have no doubt that we … will continue to do well Digges said. Together there is no team out there … we can not beat.”
Today the Waves will hit the road and look to change their luck as they take on the 49ers at Cal State Long Beach at 7 pm.