Garrett Wait
Sports Assistant
Andrea Barrett / Staff Photographer
Goalie Robbie Miller goes for the block during the Wasko Tournament.
The sixth-ranked Pepperdine men’s water polo team played hard at the SoCal Tournament held by the University of Southern California Saturday and Sunday. The Waves finished the tournament with a 2-2 record to bring their overall record to 4-3 for the season.
The team kicked off the tournament, which featured 14 of the top 20 teams in the nation, against No. 19 Cal Baptist University. The Waves won the hotly contested match 10-9.
Pepperdine’s sophomore two-meter Doug Mann, senior guard Josh Acosta and freshman guard Grant Miller each scored two goals against Cal Baptist and freshman goalie Robbie Miller notched a pair of saves in the victory.
The game was tied at halftime at four goals apiece, but the Waves took a two-goal lead after a big third quarter and held off a late Cal Baptist charge to claim the match. Other Pepperdine goal-scorers include redshirt freshman driver Jason Lantgen, and freshman wings Matt Lee and Matt MacDonell.
Pepperdine’s second opponent of the day, third-ranked UCLA, proved to be much stiffer competition. UCLA claimed an 11-4 victory over the Waves as the Bruins were able to keep Pepperdine off the scoreboard in the second half.
The Waves’ Acosta scored two more goals against UCLA while Mann and freshman driver Matt Digges each added one goal. UCLA’s Brett Ormsby was the high scorer in the match, contributing five goals against the Waves.
Entering the second day of the tournament with a 1-1 record, the Waves first took on No. 12 University of California, San Diego at the USC pool Sunday. Pepperdine and UCSD battled for four quarters, but needed overtime to settle the score.
The Waves eventually came out on top 8-6. Acosta again paced the Waves with four goals, with Digges and freshman driver Adam Hewko each contributing two goals of their own. Miller led the Waves with eight saves in the overtime match to stonewall UCSD.
Pepperdine’s 2-1 record entering the final match was good enough to get the team into the fifth-place game against No. 5 University of California, Irvine. The Waves got down big early and were unable to mount a comeback against the Anteaters, eventually losing 10-5 to finish sixth in the tournament.
Head Coach Terry Schroeder said the team’s youth hinders them in games against teams with more experienced players.
“We played fairly well at times a pretty bad at others,” Schroeder said. “We were impatient on offense and that can be attributed to our inexperience.
“Youth was definitely a factor in our losses,” Schroeder continued. “We have to play better in six-on-five situations. Six-on-five was where our youth really showed.”
MacDonell scored three goals against UC Irvine with Mann and Digges each scoring one goal. Meanwhile, Miller was able to save three shots against the Anteaters.
The host USC Trojans bested No. 1 Stanford in the first-place match by a score of 8-6. That extended the national champion Trojans’ record to 6-0 on the young season, while dropping Stanford to 5-1 on the year.
In the third-place game, fourth-ranked University of California, Berkeley beat UCLA by a score of 10-9.
Pepperdine’s next match will take place against rival, No. 11 Loyola Marymount University at the LMU pool Saturday.
The Lions (7-2) finished ninth at the SoCal Tournament, besting California State University, Long Beach by a score of 8-7.
Rounding out the rest of the SoCal field, UCSD beat University of California, Santa Barbara for seventh place, UC Davis got finished 11th, ahead of Cal Baptist and University of Pacific won the 13th-place game over the Air Force Academy.
In two weekends, Pepperdine will continue to yet another tournament when it plays at the NorCal Tournament hosted by 15th-ranked University of Pacific in Stockton, Calif.
09-23-2004