No. 7 Pepperdine Men’s Water Polo took a trip to face rival No. 17 Loyola Marymount University on Oct. 25 at Burns Aquatic Center.
Fifth year attacker Christian Hosea opened the scoring for the Waves early in the first quarter, but LMU responded with a goal of their own within two minutes.
Freshman utility Charles Wilmington put the Waves ahead soon after to take a 2-1 lead, but LMU was able to score once again and end the first quarter 2-2.
Pepperdine came out strong in the second quarter, scoring four unanswered goals, including two more for Hosea, completing a first-half hat-trick.
LMU scored two goals before the end of the half, but junior attacker Adam Csapo had the final say before halftime, putting the Waves up 7-4.
Freshman attacker Erik Ionescu opened scoring in the third quarter to extend the Waves’ lead 8-4, but Pepperdine failed to score another goal for the rest of the quarter as LMU cut into their deficit.
Pepperdine allowed three goals before the quarter ended and entered the fourth quarter 8-7.
Ionescu once again began the scoring for the Waves at the beginning of the fourth quarter to give the Waves a two goal cushion, but LMU cut back into the lead with a goal of their own less than 30 seconds later.
Csapo responded right after with a goal for the Waves, achieving a hat-trick. Junior attacker Sandor Gal followed up Csapo’s goal to extend the Waves’ lead 11-8.
LMU was able to find the back of the net twice and cut the Waves’ lead to just one, with the game coming to a close, however Gal’s second goal in the final 30 seconds of the game helped secure the Waves’ victory.
The Waves and LMU broke even with 31 shots and eight assists, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Pepperdine ended the game with 20 points and 10 exclusions to LMU’s 18 points and eight exclusions.
Both teams also tied each other with 10 steals and 2-2 in sprints, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
The Waves now move to a 2-0 conference record and a 16-5 overall record.
The Waves followed up the win with two more away games over the weekend, the first against California State University, Fullerton and the second against University of California, Irvine.
Pepperdine won the game against Fullerton 15-6, but lost against Irvine 12-13 in the Waves’ final non-conference game of the season.
The Waves next matchup comes against Santa Clara University on Nov. 1 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
__________________
Follow the Graphic on X: @PeppGraphic
Email Nick Charkhedian: nareg.charkhedian@pepperdine.edu
