Graduate attacker Dane Howell goes for the goal Oct. 17 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. Howell scored one goal against Pacific but bounced back scoring six goals against Air Force on Oct. 19. Photos by Olivia Schneider
No. 9 Men’s Water Polo played Air Force Academy on Oct. 19 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. The Waves entered the match ranked No. 8, according to the Collegiate Water Polo Association.
Pepperdine won the match 18-14, marking their first in-conference win of the season and improving their overall record to 11-8, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
“Offensively, we did pretty darn good,” Head Coach Merrill Moses said. “But defensively, we can’t give that many kick-outs and have to limit the amount of goals we let teams score.”
The match started even in momentum, with both sides taking shots and pressuring the other team on defense, but graduate center Matty Walsh scored the first goal of the match for the Waves.
Pepperdine and Air Force kept the momentum even for the rest of the first period before senior attacker Sandor Gal scored, giving the Waves a 5-4 lead at the end of the first period.
“When we started moving the ball around fast, looking for each other, making that extra pass — that’s when things started clicking offensively,” Gal said.
Sophomore utility Charles Warmington looks to pass Oct. 17 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. Warmington did not record an assist against Pacific but marked four against Air Force on Oct. 19.
Air Force kept the pressure on Pepperdine’s defense at the start of the second period, taking four shots in a row before a save by sophomore goalie Max Smirnov gave the Waves a chance to fight back offensively.
Sophomore attacker Erik Ionescu and freshman center Max Burstein both scored midway through the second period to give the Waves a 7-5 lead. Gal, Walsh and graduate attacker Dan Howell each followed with a score to give Pepperdine a 10-7 lead at the end of the second half.
“We figured out [junior utility Tom Leggett] is their only guy there who can shoot the ball and score,” Smirnov said. “We said that we’re going to press him more, which worked out pretty good after the second period.”
Sophomore attacker Erik Ionescu looks for an opening to pass Oct. 17 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. Ionescu scored two goals against Pacific, followed by one against Air Force on Oct. 19.
The third period started slow for both teams, as neither team scored until an Air Force penalty in the third minute cut Pepperdine’s lead down to two goals.
Pepperdine finally got hot on offense, scoring three goals in the next two minutes to bring the score to 13-10 heading into the fourth period.
“When we started playing like a team, we were starting to see good things late,” Gal said. “We got some easy counter goals which helped us a lot.”
Air Force scored within the first 30 seconds of the fourth period to cut the lead down 13-11, but a quick four goals by the Waves, including three from Howell, made the score 17-12 moving into the final two minutes of the game.
Air Force managed two quick scores to make the score 17-14, but a final cross-pool shot from Howell closed out the game 18-14.
“The guys executed offensively, but we definitely have to clean some stuff up on the defensive end,” Moses said. “We just have to execute better with our game plan.”
Pepperdine goes for a loose ball Oct. 17 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. The Waves ended with three steals against Pacific but recorded nine in the following match against Air Force on Oct. 19.
Pepperdine ended the match with 18 goals on 45 shots, 15 assists, 33 points and nine steals compared to Air Force with 14 goals on 36 shots, 7 assists, 21 points and five steals, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Howell led the Waves in goals with six, followed by Walsh with three, Gal with two and sophomore utility Owen Tift with two. Smirnov finished with 12 saves in the match compared to Air Force’s 10.
The Waves next match is against No. 8 San Jose State University on Oct. 24 at the SRAC Pool.
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Email Shane Stephens: shane.stephens@pepperdine.edu
