SARAH DAUGHERTY/Staff Photographer
SHUHEI MATSUO
Sports Editor
Despite a close 8-7 loss against rival No.-5 UC Irvine on Friday night, the sixth-ranked Pepperdine men’s water polo team showed dominance in its home pool Saturday against two lower-ranked teams. The Waves’ B team collected a 9-8 victory over Concordia, while the A team swamped No.-14 UC San Diego with a season-high score of 22-9.
Going 2-1 this weekend, Pepperdine improved its overall record to 24-8, while dropping the MPSF record to 1-5 for the campaign.
In Friday’s match, junior attacker Adam Hewko led the Pepperdine offense with four goals. But UCI’s leading scorer Colin Mellow, who also shook the net four times, brought a victory to the Anteaters when he scored a game-winning shot with 1:16 remaining in the game.
Despite a disappointing loss against a rival, Head Coach Jack Kocur said he is pleased with the way his team played Friday.
“We played well but just didn’t get a ‘W’ at the end,” he said. “[The players] came out strong, and they kept the spirit alive.”
The Waves’ solid performance continued Saturday.
“We really came out strong in both games,” Kocur said Saturday. “The first game allowed a lot of younger players get some experience, and the second game allowed our guys to come back from last night’s close loss.”
During the first game against Concordia, freshman attackers Travis Gough and Andrew Milcovich scored two apiece and led the team’s offense. Defensively, new goalies freshman Bryce McLain and junior Jack Curley collected five and six saves, respectively.
Curley, a transfer from Santa Rosa Junior College, said he was fired up in this game because he hadn’t been playing a lot lately. He also played second and third quarters of the match against UCSD.
“It was nice to get back in the water especially against this team (UCSD) that was in the final four last year,” Curley said. “It’s nice getting some competition and preparing myself for next year.”
Pepperdine’s offense exploded during the match against UCSD, where the Waves quickly grabbed an 8-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Sophomore center Clayton Snyder led the Waves with team-high five goals, while Hewko and junior Mat MacDonell each delivered a hat-trick.
Pepperdine concludes its regular-season action this weekend when it faces No.-3 UCLA away Saturday and No.-7 UC Santa Barbara at home Sunday. Even though the Waves are already in the playoffs based on their current ranking, this weekend’s matches are crucial because they could affect their seeding at the season-finale MPSF Championship, which starts Nov. 23.
However, Kocur said winning these games is not that important to the team.
“We have two more games to get good experience, get us on the same page and make sure we are ready to go for Mountain Pacific,” he said. “A ‘W’ or an ‘L’ right now is not an issue. What is an issue is whether we play consistent water polo or not.”
With two more weeks to wrap up this season, a couple of players on the team will end their college career in water polo.
“It’s been a once-in-a-life-time experience for me,” senior attacker Nick Corjon said, looking back the four years at Pepperdine. “To get to play a Division-I sport, it’s just been the best time of my life, you know, with all my best friends every day.”
After graduation, Corjon plans to go to Europe and maybe play professionally in France, the home country of his father.
Another player, junior centerback Dorian Beaney, is also finishing his college career in two weeks, although he has one more year of eligibility to play.
“It’s been a lot of work, but it’s definitely worth it,” he said. “I’m glad I’ve done every moment of it.”
11-15-2007
