Graduate attacker Dane Howell shoots a five-meter Nov. 2 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool vs Cal State Fullerton. Howell had three goals off penalties against Cal State Fullerton. Photos by Olivia Schneider
No. 13 Men’s Water Polo took down Cal State Fullerton 21-10 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on Nov 2. Five-meter penalties seemed to be the theme of the day, with the Waves scoring on all seven attempts.
Pepperdine maintained a multiple-goal lead for the majority of the game, never trailing. Graduate center Matty Walsh and graduate attacker Dane Howell led the team with four goals apiece.
“This weekend was a good showing of what our team’s capable of,” Head Coach Merrill Moses said. “Obviously, a huge game yesterday versus UCI and then to continue today with Fullerton. The guys stepped up, and they stuck to the game plan.”
The day prior, Pepperdine defeated No. 15 UC Irvine by a narrow margin of 12-10. The Waves held both teams this weekend to a mere 10 goals each, while having more of a show offensively against CSUF.
Pepperdine was on the board within the first minute of play after sophomore attacker Erik Ionescu scored a five-meter. An exclusion on the Waves set up Fullerton to record their first goal, but Walsh was quick to answer back with one of his own. Two more five-meter goals in the first quarter set the tone on offense.
Howell and Walsh both scored early in the second quarter off the power play before CSUF scored three of their own. Howell and Ionescu matched back with three five-meter goals. The half concluded 11-7 Pepperdine.
“I’m very grateful that my teammates gave me those opportunities,” Howell said. “I was looking to just shoot it strong. I watched film on this goalie. I knew what he was gonna do.”
The second half saw the Waves’ defense take a step up. The Titans only found the net three times in the final 16 minutes. Sophomore goalie Max Smirnov recorded 13 saves on the day.
“The big thing was defense led to good offense,” Moses said. “Our goalie played great, and great team defense led to good offense.”
Sophomore utility Owen Tift fights off an opponent during the game against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 2 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. Tift’s lone goal of the game was his twentieth of the season, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Freshman attacker Alex Piccin had back-to-back goals that helped stretch the lead in the third quarter. Three different Waves added to the score in the fourth, with freshman utility Csanád Bella finding the net twice to cap the game at 21-10.
“This is a game that we talked about for the past week,” Howell said. “We wanted to practice hard for the full week, go into UCI and have a good game. We got that done yesterday and today. Everyone really wanted to just show a dominant game, so we were happy with today’s performance.”
Up next, Pepperdine will take on No. 14 Loyola Marymount University at home Nov. 8. This conference matchup is the second-to-last game of the season for the Waves. As the team focuses on finishing out strong, eyes are set ahead on the WCC Tournament from Nov. 21-23.
“LMU is a very good team,” Moses said. “They won a lot of goals, but hopefully our defense is gonna minimize those. We’re excited to play at home again next week and continue focusing on our defense for a conference championship.”
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Contact Addison Thomas via email: addison.thomas@pepperdine.edu
