At their fourth meeting, the Waves finally defeat No. 2 UCI, 6-3, but fire blanks against USC in overtime.
By Erica Sigman
Staff Writer
The Pepperdine men’s water polo team fell one goal short of a four-game winning streak Sunday afternoon. The University of Southern California’s sophomore utility man, James Shin, scored the game-winning goal for No. 5-ranked USC, beating the No. 6-ranked Waves 7-6. While the Waves’ record is still above .500, coming out of this game they’re now 9-6 overall and 4-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
The Waves met USC once before, earlier in the season, leaving with a defeat under their belts.
“We’ve improved a great deal,” Head Coach Terry Schroeder said. “We just didn’t put the ball in the goal. We beat them in most aspects of the game, but it didn’t show on the score board.”
Sophomore utility man Jesse Smith agrees.
“We played well, but just didn’t finish in the end,” Smith said.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Waves were tied 4-4 with the Trojans. Junior driver Jeremy Grubbs scored during a power play to put the Waves within one goal of USC.
“We just needed to finish our shots,” senior two-meter man Chad Caldwell said. “We had the chances, we just didn’t put the ball in the goal.”
Despite the fact that some shots were missed, it was still anyone’s game.
“I think USC realized they were lucky to win that game,” Schroeder said.
Oct. 19, No.6-ranked Pepperdine defeated No. 2-ranked University of California Irvine 6-3, giving Pepperdine a record of 9-5 overall and 4-0 in league play.
“We just came out excited about playing,” Smith said.
The team showed their excitement throughout the game.
“We played four good quarters,” Caldwell said. “Our defense stepped up to a new level.” The Waves held the Anteaters scoreless up until the fourth quarter. This was the fourth meeting between Pepperdine and UCI, this win being their first.
“We had better intensity on defense,” Schroeder said. “We had less turnovers and good ball control.”
The previous weekend, the Waves hosted No. 8-ranked University of the Pacific, beating them 11-10 in a second overtime period. This improved the Wave’s record to 8-5 overall and 3-0 in MPSF play.
Senior two-meter man Karl Niehaus led the team in scoring, placing three shots in the goal. Grubbs scored a goal with just 17 seconds left on the clock to give Pepperdine the win.
“They’re big, physical and fast,” Schroeder said. “It takes the talent we have to neutralize that.”
The team said the physicality of the game was due to Pacific’s desire for revenge.
“Because of their loss to us in the tournament, there were high tensions,” Smith said. “They came out really physical, but we kept our composure.”
Oct. 12, No. 2-ranked University of California Los Angeles hosted No. 6 Pepperdine, with the waves winning the game 7-6 after four grueling overtime periods.
Junior driver Scott Harvey tied the game in the fourth quarter at 6-6, with Niehaus scoring the game-winning goal in the fourth overtime period.
“We were happy to tie that game and go into overtime,” Schroeder said.
Along with being grateful for overtime, the Waves also had to deal with playing under the pressure.
“I think we did really well under the pressure,” Smith said. “Losing close games in the NorCal tournament prepared us for upcoming games.”
Pepperdine outscored UCLA in all quarters except the third. Senior goalkeeper Michael Soltis handled his end of the job with 10 saves for the waves. Both UCLA and Pepperdine were unable to score in the first three overtime periods.
“Our 5-6 defense was very good,” Schroeder said. “In our minds we have it in the bank that we could win that game the next time.”
The weekend of Oct. 5, the Pepperdine Waves traveled to the NorCal Tournament and opened the tournament by defeating No. 11-ranked UC San Diego 11-8. The Waves had a 6-3 lead at halftime and held on to it for the remainder of the game. Eight Pepperdine players scored that game.
The first win of the weekend was quickly followed by a dramatic loss to No. 2 ranked UCI, beating Pepperdine 10-9. The score was tied 9-9 in the fourth, but Pepperdine turned the ball over leading to the winning goal for the Anteaters.
Pepperdine met up with Pacific, defeating the Tigers 8-6. The key to defeating Pacific was defense.
No. 4-ranked California beat Pepperdine 8-6 in the fifth place game of the tournament. Pepperdine’s overall record dropped to 6-5. Ending the first half, Niehaus tied the game at 5-5. Cal then came back to outscore the Waves 3-1 in the second half.
“We just came out of a three-game weekend,” Caldwell said. “I think we were just kind of tired.”
The coach and staff realize that this is an aspect the team needs to work on.
“We have to be able to play back-to-back games,” Schroeder said. “We’ve had trouble bouncing back.”
Throughout the season, the Waves have been improving, beating top-ranked teams and showing more consistency.
“We’re still improving,” Schroeder said. “We have a greater learning curve, more than any other team.”
Smith agreed.
“The farther we get, the more confident we become,” he said. “We’re confident that our work will pay off.”
The Waves give some of the credit of their success to their fans.
“We had great crowd support,” Schroeder said. “I saw some of the players really step up. I hope that the crowd really comes out to support us.”
October 24, 2002