The Waves are rolling.
Pepperdine Water Polo remains undefeated after they won their home opener in a 15-12 battle with PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount University.
The #4 Waves hosted the #16 Lions at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on Sept. 14. Both teams came into the contest undefeated with Pepperdine being 4-0 and LMU being 3-0.
“All in all, very happy with the team performance and proud of the guys getting the W, especially as the home opener,” Head Coach Merrill Moses said.
Junior attacker Adam Csapo started the scoring off with 5:56 left in the first quarter. Freshman goalie Jaxon Leach did his job in goal, keeping the Lions quiet until the end of the quarter.
“I think Jaxon Leach did a great job in the goal, had some huge saves and some pivotal moments,” Moses said.
Goals from junior utility Milo Joseph, fifth year attacker Christian Hosea and another from Csapo gave the Waves an early lead. The visitors scored two in the last two minutes to bring the score to 4-2 in Pepperdine’s favor.
LMU came out firing in the second quarter to tie the game at 4-4.
After scoring the game-winner against No. 2 Cal Berkeley on Sept. 7, sophomore utility Jon Carcarey put Pepperdine back ahead 5-4. Hosea and Carcarey scored their second goals of the game to increase their lead before the Lions tacked on one more in the last 30 seconds to bring the score to 7-5.
The second half got off to a slow start, with the first four minutes being scoreless for both teams. Hosea broke the silence with his third goal to complete a hat trick. Carcarey also notched his third goal for a hat trick in the third quarter to keep the Waves up 10-7 heading into the last quarter of play.
“We’ve shown that we can play with anyone in the country. We have the offensive firepower,” Moses said.
Tensions were high in the final quarter. LMU’s bench and head coach were both given yellow cards as multiple penalties were called in the pool. The home team stayed calm as they chased the win.
“You have to have a goldfish mindset,” Leach said. “Just forget about it and really think about what’s coming next. Like all right, what just happened, and just focus on what’s coming next.”
Carcarey scored his fourth and final goal of the game accompanied by a goal from senior attacker Dane Howell and two from freshman attacker Erik Ionescu. LMU went on a 3-0 run in the last two minutes of the game to tally up their score to 12. Junior attacker Sandor Gal sealed the deal in the last 35 seconds to finalize the Waves’ win 15-12.
Moses is in his first campaign as head coach and is off to a hot start with his team being 5-0.
“We wanted to make sure that we proved who we are as a program and I think all their hard work definitely is shown,” Moses said.
Pepperdine is hoping to stay hot as they host three top 10 opponents within the next month. Moses said his team is taking each game one step at a time.
“If we can focus one game at a time and prepare the right way, I think we’ll be very successful in all games, and then that’s going to prepare us to be at our best performance for the conference championship,” Moses said.
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