Saturday afternoon was a flip-flop of a day for No. 5 Pepperdine men’s water polo team. The Waves lost a conference match to No. 1 Stanford 9-4 but then came back an hour later to defeat Concordia University 14-6 in Malibu. On Sunday the Waves handled business against UC Irvine 12-9.
“Our theme for the whole weekend was going 100 percent said junior attacker Preston Lujan.
In the first half against Stanford, The Waves played well both offensively and defensively. In the second half, the Cardinals dominated with 6-on-5 opportunities. Three goals were scored by senior attacker Adam Hewko, while four goals were scored for Stanford. Freshman goalkeeper John Hahn had seven saves for the Waves, while Stanford was credited with eight saves.
Hewko is known as the power house for the Waves said sophomore attacker Blake Hubbell.
In the first period, junior center Clayton Snyder answered back by netting a goal early in the game, which tied it up at 1-1. But, with only 50 seconds left in the game, Stanford scored and took the lead.
Stanford struck again in the second with another goal to give the Cardinals a two-point advantage. Yet, Hewko shot his first goal of the match at 5:20, which was followed by a 5-meter penalty shot that knotted the score once again at 3-all. Stanford scored on another 6-on-5 opportunity, giving them a one-point lead heading into the third period.
The Cardinals scored two goals in the third period on man-up opportunities, ending the period with a three-point lead, 6-3.
One of our main problems was too many bar outs Hubbell said. This is when there is a shot at the goal and the ball hits the crossbar of the goal and goes out.”
The scoring run continued for Stanford in the fourth period with two more goals on 6-on-5 plays bringing the score to 8-3. Following the goals the Cardinals scored once more. But with 59 seconds left Hewko came back to throw in a goal making the final score 9-4.
Even though it was a tough loss against Stanford Pepperdine returned with a big victory against Concordia University. Junior center Jacob Young and sophomore centerback Christian Cardey led the Waves offensively with three goals each. Senior centerback Matt Digges and junior attacker J.P. MacDonell also scored two goals each.
The Waves took an early lead and ended the half with a 5-3 advantage. In the third period Young had a three goal run while Cardey scored three goals in the fourth period. Senior goalkeeper Jack Curley led the Waves with five saves.
On Sunday the Waves beat UC Irvine 12-9. Junior attacker J.P. MacDonell scored a season-high five goals. Hahn had 13 saves in the match.
Both teams traded goals until the final three minutes of the period when UC Irvine scored back-to-back goals to give them a two-point lead going into the second period 5-3.
Pepperdine went on a four goal scoring run in the second quarter to end the half up by two goals 7-5. The MacDonell brothers scored back-to-back goals with senior utility Matt MacDonell shooting the goal that tied the match and started the Waves’ momentum.
In the third period J.P. Macdonell scored both goals for the Waves bringing the score to 8-9.
UCI took advantage of a 6-on-5 opportunity with a goal that tied up the match in the fourth period. Senior centerback Grant Miller put a shot in the cage with his left hand to give the Waves a lead once again 10-9. Junior utility Brett Auer and MacDonell scored the final goals of the game to give Pepperdine the win.
Coming up next for the Waves is a match at UC Santa Barbara on Sunday Nov. 16.