Hallie Mitchell
Staff Writer
The Pepperdine’s men’s water polo team had a bittersweet first day of the Northern California Tournament. Early in the day, a victory lap over No. 11 UC Davis, 15-7, was soon ended by a shocking 8-3 loss to No. 4 UCLA later in the evening.
In the first quarter of the game against UC Davis, the Waves weren’t up by much, with only five points to the Aggies two. The first goal was scored for Pepperdine by senior attacker Adam Hewko on a power play. Junior center Clayton Snyder followed suit with the second goal, making it 2-0.
The second quarter opened with the Aggies scoring on a 6-on-5 play, followed closely by Hewko making a 5-meter shot. This brought the score to 3-1.
Senior utility Matt MacDonell set the tone for the second half of the game with a goal on a 6-on-5 play for the Waves, making the score 6-4. Within two minutes, MacDonell scored again on another power play, giving the Waves a 3-point lead.
“Matt MacDonell was MVP of this weekend,” said Head Coach Jack Kocur. “And, it’s my job as a coach to make sure the rest of the team follows in MacDonell’s footsteps.”
The scoring run was continued by senior centerback Grant Miller, who put another one on the third ejection opportunity.
Pepperdine continued the attacking onslaught, with five more goals scored and strong defense throughout the fourth quarter. The Aggies were left scoreless in the quarter. Miller sunk in two of those five goals, while MacDonell, sophomore centerback Christian Cardey and sophomore attacker Blake Hubbell each put in one of their own. Pepperdine pulled through with the “W” and ended the game with a final score of 15-7.
The team’s freshman goalkeeper, John Hahn, made his first appearance as a Wave during the second half. He made three major saves.
“It was definitely exciting to make my debut,” Hahn said. “And I love playing in such a strong team environment.”
That evening, the Waves played the aggressive UCLA Bruins and came short of victory, 8-3.With only one minute elapsed in the first quarter, UCLA scored its first goal. Yet, soon after, MacDonell tied the score. The Bruins took advantage of a Pepperdine exclusion and ended the quarter leading 2-1.
The Waves were shut out by UCLA’s defense in the second quarter, while the Bruins still put in another goal.
Fifteen seconds into the third quarter, UCLA kept up their momentum by scoring again, pushing the score to 4-1. The Waves were left down a man when a call was made on junior attacker Taylor Watson. On this advantage, the Bruins scored again, making it a five-point lead. Pepperdine answered back with a goal by Miller. But, only 37 seconds later, UCLA put in their sixth goal to make the score 6-2.
Strong defense from both teams kept either one from scoring at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Another ejection on Pepperdine allowed the Bruins to score on a power play, widening the lead to five points. Another goal was scored by UCLA, ballooning the team’s lead to 8-2.
Sophomore attacker Andrew Milcovich scored the final goal for the Waves with a hard clean shot, saying he “scored that last goal for pride.”
Hahn went on to say that both coaches and players alike were disappointed with the results of the game.
Pepperdine lost again to Long Beach State with a final score of 11-15, but then finished off the weekend with win over UC Irvine, 12-10. The Waves finished seventh overall in the tournament.
“Its not where we want to be but it is a floor for us to work off of as a team,” said senior centerback Matt Digges.
The Waves will take action again tomorrow, playing Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at home in Malibu.
Submitted 09-25-2008
