DANIELLA BOSIO
Assistant Sports Editor
The No.-6 Pepperdine men’s water polo team split the weekend with both a win and a loss as they improved their record to 7-3 on the season. The Waves moved to 2-1 at home this weekend as they defeated No.-7 UC Irvine on Saturday 7-5, and lost to No.-4 UCLA on Sunday 7-5 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
Saturday’s game against the Anteaters marked the second meeting between the two teams. Pepperdine defeated the Anteaters 7-4 in the third round of the SoCal Invitational at UC Irvine on Sunday, Sept. 18.
The Waves took an early lead in Saturday’s match when sophomore Grant Miller scored two goals in the first period and one goal in the second period to help increase the lead to 5-0 at the half. Senior Jesse Smith scored the final goal of the first half off a penalty shot at the 3:36 mark of the second period.
The Anteaters retaliated in the third period and scored a pair of goals to finally put them on the board at 5-2. Smith countered UC Irvine’s attack and was able to score another penalty shot with 4:10 left in the third period to increase the lead to 6-2.
UC Irvine scored three fast-break goals against the Waves to decrease the deficit to 7-5. The Waves played strong defense in the final period and were able to hold off the Anteaters for the win.
Smith and Miller each tallied three goals in the match, and senior goalie Ben Tait recorded nine saves for the Waves.
“We played great defense in the UC Irvine game,” said Head Coach Terry Schroeder. “It was very important for our guys to recognize that they can play great defense when they want to. The fact that we held UCI to a shutout in the first two quarters was very impressive.”
On Sunday, the Waves tried to improve their record at home to 3-0, but were unable to hold off defending national champion, UCLA. The Bruins started the match strong as they took a 3-1 lead over the Waves at the end of the first period. The Bruins controlled the first few minutes of the match and were able to capitalize twice with a man advantage over the Waves.
“UCLA capitalized on their power plays,” Schroeder said. “They also out hustled us a bit on defense.”
The Bruins continued to score their fourth goal of the match off a man advantage against the Waves at the 2:56 mark of the second period. The Waves came back before the half with a goal by Miller, which made the score 4-2 at halftime.
With a goal by Miller at the 3:34 mark of the third period and another goal by Smith at the 3:10 mark, the Waves tied the match at 4-4 by the middle of the third period. The Bruins came back full force and were able to score two more goals by the end of the third quarter. Redshirt junior Doug Mann scored the final goal for the Waves with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Waves fought back hard in the fourth, but the Bruins were able to keep the Waves scoreless.
Goalie Ben Tait recorded 12 saves for the Waves, while Bruin goalie Will Didinger made nine saves in the match.
The Waves’ offense was led by Smith who scored four goals over the weekend, and Miller who recorded five goals. Smith leads the team with 19 goals on the season, Miller is second on the team with 18 goals and sophomore Adam Hewko comes in third with 17 goals.
“Smith, Miller and Hewko are definitely scoring the majority of goals,” Schroeder said. “Other guys are stepping up though and getting a good look at the goal.”
The Waves will complete their four-game homestand this weekend when they play No.-1 University of Southern California and Whittier on Saturday in a doubleheader starting at noon at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
“USC is one of the best teams in the country right now,” Schroeder said. “I’m happy to see our guys improving each game, and I think we will give USC a battle.”
09-29-2005