Men’s water polo placed seventh in the 2013 NorCal Tournament in Berkeley, Calif., this weekend.
In the first match, the No. 10 Waves rallied after trailing 3-1 in the first quarter to upset No. 7 UC Irvine with an 8-6 victory.
The second match of the day also proved to be a vigorous battle. The squad attacked No. 1 USC’s resilient defense with their own forceful barricade. Though the Waves did a consistent job containing the intense Trojan offense, they were unable to stop USC altogether and ended the day with a 9-4 loss.
Sophomore Luke Hewko scored a hat trick against UC Irvine and another against the Trojans, leading the Waves with a total of four goals on day one. Senior Bence Valics recorded a season-high of 14 saves against the Anteaters.
Day two opened with the Waves unable to contain No. 3 Pacific’s ruthless offense. After the first two quarters, they trailed 11-2. Even with four goals scored in the fourth quarter, it was not enough to rally back against the Tigers.
Sunday began with a 21-6 loss. For the seventh place contest, Pepperdine faced No. 9 Long Beach State. Junior Marko Madaras and Hewko offensively pursued the 49ers with three scores each, providing their team with a slight edge over Long Beach State going into the fourth quarter.
However, the 49ers rallied with four unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to defeat Pepperdine 9-6.
“We came back against UCI, and with a really good defense we ended up winning the game, but we were not that lucky against Long Beach,” Madaras said.
Men’s water polo stays close to home in its next monumental contest against No. 2 UCLA.
The Bruins barely overcame USC in a close 9-8 match to take the first place title in the 2013 NorCal tournament. Match time against the Bruins is set for tomorrow at 4 p.m at UCLA and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
The Waves recognize that UCLA has a collection of great athletes, both domestic and foreign. In preparation for the match against the Bruins, Madaras explained:
“We really have to learn how to focus for four quarters and not just for two or three because at this point I think this is one of the reasons we can’t do as well as we should …We will try to find [UCLA’s] weaknesses and do our best.”
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As published in the Sept. 26 issue of the Pepperdine Graphic.
