With a missing starter and a large 49er crowd, the No.-5 Pepperdine men’s water polo team pulled through with a W” over No. 10 Long Beach State 8-7 last Thursday. “It was a good win that put us back on track and a good stepping stone for the league said freshman goalkeeper John Hahn.
Junior attacker J.P. MacDonell led the Waves with three goals to go alongside Hahn’s 11 saves.
Though Pepperdine’s leading shooter and scorer, senior centerback Grant Miller, was on the sideline with an injury, the team pulled through to claim another conference victory.
Junior center Clayton Snyder scored the first goal of the match during a 6-on-5 opportunity. The 49ers responded with three goals of their own, putting Long Beach State on top at the end of the first period, 1-3.
Early in the second period, senior attacker Adam Hewko and MacDonell scored back-to-back goals. At the half, the score was once again tied.
Sophomore attacker Blake Hubbell began the third period with a steal and counter attack. With only 5:22 left in the period, Hahn was ejected for a foul and Hewko, Snyder and junior attacker Sam Busby set up a solid blockade that held off Long Beach’s goal attempt.
The boys stepped up and it was a big relief for me that they didn’t score Hahn said.
After a five-meter penalty shot taken by Hewko, Pepperdine took the lead with the scoreboard reading 6-4. The 49ers came back with two goals into the cage, again tying the game at 6-6. With only 1:26 left on the clock, senior centerback Matt Digges scored, bringing the Waves into the lead again, 7-6.
Long Beach State opened the fourth quarter with a goal to tie it again. The Waves and the 49ers battled both defensively and offensively, but it was MacDonell’s goal with two minutes remaining that decided the match in favor of Pepperdine.
Each game from here on out is huge for us but I think that we are ready said junior attacker Taylor Watson.
With Stanford coming up, the Waves have to be on their toes.
We need to send a message out to other teams that we are their main competitor Hahn said. And if we beat Stanford that will put us into a better position.”
Next for the Waves is a critical home match-up against No.-2-seeded Stanford on Saturday at noon.