On Oct. 11, Pepperdine defeated the Princeton Tigers 15-12. This marks the Waves’ first game back at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in over a month.
The Waves had steady control of the game heading into the fourth quarter but allowed the Tigers to catch up in the final minutes.
“It feels great to be back at home and play in front of a home crowd,” Head Coach Merrill Moses said. “We played with some good intensity. There are a few mistakes we have to clean up but excited about the team getting the W at home.”
Pepperdine faced Princeton a few weeks prior at the MPSF Invite on Sept. 21. The Waves came out on top with a narrow margin of 17-15.
Off the bat, junior utility Jon Carcarey had back-to-back goals. Pepperdine’s defense made it very tough for the Tigers in the first quarter, scoring their lone goal off a penalty.
Sophomore utility Owen Tift started the second quarter with two goals of his own, his first two of five on the day. This is a career high for Tift, who appeared in every game for the Waves during his freshman campaign, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
“It was a good game, and they were a good team,” Tift said. “I had a few lucky shots, but we just did what coach said. It allowed us to score some easy goals.”
Senior attacker Sandor Gal also had an eventful second quarter, assisting both of Tift’s goals and finding the net himself twice. The half ended 7-4 Pepperdine.
“Our team prepared well for them [Princeton] this week,” Moses said. “They were a good team when we played them earlier as well, but we were able to shut them down a little more defensively this game.”
The Waves continued to build a lead in the third, with Tift scoring a trio of goals and graduate center Matty Walsh scoring two of his own.
With a six-goal lead early in the final eight, all the Waves needed to do was close it out. However, the Tigers were not going to give up so easily and began to rally back.
“We kind of stopped playing offense,” Tift said. “We knew that we were up a lot and that we could win, but we still got to play offense. We’ve got to play hard, and we can’t stop playing.”
After four consecutive goals, the game was neck and neck in the final minutes. After some strong defense from the Waves, Walsh put away the match 15-13 with his third goal of the day.
Next up, the Waves will take on No. 18 Pacific at home Oct. 17. The Waves will be looking to get their first conference win of the season after facing defeat against No. 15 Cal Baptist.
“Pacific’s a great team,” Moses said. “It’s our second conference game, and we’re going to have to play great defense. They’re very well coached, and we’re excited to play.”
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Contact Addison Thomas by email: addison.thomas@pepperdine.edu
