Long Beach State attacker Connor Mannion edges out Pepperdine attacker Clay Kaneko to open up the second quarter on Oct. 30 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. This was the catalyst for the Elbee’s dominant second quarter, outscoring the Waves 6-1. Photo by Chloe Chan.
On Oct. 30, Men’s Water Polo dropped to No.16 in the country with a loss against No. 6 Long Beach state at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. The 17-10 final score put the Waves at a .500 record of 12-12.
Senior attacker Curtis Jarvis led the Waves with three goals and two steals, making this his fifth hat-trick of the season. Junior center defender Nico Tierney scored a pair of goals, while freshman attacker Sandor Gal led the team in sprint time with 7:24, resulting in a goal and two assists.
“We started playing individually and not as a team— if we played as a team, I don’t think they would have gained momentum,” senior center Nicholas Fichman said.
Pepperdine last played against USC on Oct. 22— the No. 5 Trojans and No. 9 Waves were evenly matched in the first half. The game was tied on seven separate occasions before the Trojans finally pulled through, creating a two goal separation.
This game started with a similar back and forth battle as the Waves were able to keep up with the Elbees in a promising first quarter. Pepperdine’s pregame camaraderie was put on display through the thunderous chants— this energy translated to some good ball movement and a goal by Jarvis in the first possession.
Sophomore goalie Justin Edward followed this up with three tough saves, igniting a surge of momentum for the home crowd. Junior attacker Raphael Real Vergara put a halt to this effort with a powerful throw to the back of the net to tie the game at one goal each. Both squads continued to have immediate answers for one another as the first quarter was tied at three different points.
The Elbees‘ senior center Garret Zan stole the show in the second quarter and capitalized on the Waves‘ lack of chemistry. Within the first few seconds of the kickoff, LBSU moved the ball inside to Zan, who easily scored to take a 4-3 lead. He followed this up with two more goals back-to-back.
“Long Beach State’s got a couple of really good players and we tried to focus on them. We did a pretty good job on their big shooter, Rafael Vergara,” Head Coach Terry Schroeder said. “Garrett Zan hurt us at center and we didn’t have an answer for him— he was a machine in there.”
The Waves made several substitutes and called a timeout during Zan’s groove in an effort to contain him, but he still managed to score four goals and drew six kickouts. LBSU continued to close their perimeter offense and move the ball to the inside, leaving Pepperdine in a trance.
Pepperdine struggled to stay afloat as the Elbees relentlessly added insurance goals, creating a seven goal deficit.
“We had some opportunities on 6-on-5s, and we had to make more of them,” Schroeder said. “To be in most games, you have to score 56% of your 6 on 5s, and we were 3-for-12 today.”
The Waves travel to Irvine, Calif. on Nov. 5 to face off against UCI—one of their last two Golden Coast Conference regular season games.
“UCI has a good center and some good outside shooters, so we need to figure out a way to shut them down and not let their center hurt us,” Schroeder said.
__________________
Follow the Graphic on Twitter: @PeppGraphic
Contact Nick Shea via email: nicholas.shea@pepperdine.edu
