DANIELLA BOSIO
Assistant Sports Editor
In one of its most exciting weekends this season, the sixth-ranked Pepperdine men’s water polo team defeated No.-1 University of Southern California and Whittier on Sunday at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. The Waves upset No.-1 USC 5-4 and defeated Whitter 17-13.
Pepperdine, only trailing once to USC in the match, was able to score four goals in the second period to take a commanding lead against the Trojans.
The Waves trailed 1-0 in the first seven minutes to the Trojans but came back strong in the second stanza to take the lead. Sophomore Matt Digges started the comeback when he scored two goals in the last two minutes of the second period to make the score 2-1. Sophomore Grant Miller scored the Waves’ third goal and beat USC goalie Don Ricci to the left.
USC fired back hard with a man advantage against the Waves, but senior goalie Ben Tait came up strong for the Waves. Tait recorded a shutout for the Waves in the second stanza.
“It really helps when your goalie is on,” said Head Coach Terry Schroeder. “Tait played well, and I was glad to see him voted co-player of the week for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.”
With roughly 40 seconds left in the second period, sophomore Adam Hewko was able to increase the Waves lead to 4-1 when he scored off a pass from Miller.
USC fought back in the third stanza to decrease the deficit to 4-3. The Trojans scored in the second minute with a goal from Juan Delgadillo. Their second goal of the period was scored by Juraj Zatovic and it came from a man advantage against the Waves.
The Trojans tied the game at 4-4 in the fourth period with a goal off a penalty from Zatovic. The Waves retaliated and were able to get the game-winning goal on a penalty shot from senior Jesse Smith with 1:51 left in the game.
Tait proved to be a wall in the defense for the Waves as he recorded 10 saves in the game, and Trojan goalie Don Ricci recorded seven saves.
This win increased the Waves record to 8-3 for the season and it added a loss to the undefeated Trojans, who are now 7-1 for the season.
“We made a big step in the right direction by beating USC,” Schroeder said, “But we have to remember that USC is just one game along the road. We now have to believe that we can beat anyone.”
In the second game of the day, the Waves played Whittier College. In a high-scoring match, the Waves were able to defeat the Poets 17-13. This game marked the most goals any Pepperdine team has scored since 1997.
Last week Schroeder said that he wanted several players on his team to step up and score goals for the Waves this weekend.
“Smith, Miller and Hewko are scoring lots of goals for us,” Schroeder said, “but we need production from other guys as well. We need other guys to step up and want to score goals.”
Schroeder’s wishes came true when 10 different players stepped up in this match to score goals for the Waves. Miller and Hewko led the team in goals with three goals each in the match. Redshirt sophomore Brian Witlock, sophomore Nick Corjon and redshirt sophomore Trevor Goyette all tallied two goals each. Junior Jason Langten, redshirt freshman Greg Goble and sophomore Jeff Willis all contributed one goal to the Waves’ victory.
Pepperdine was able to hold a comfortable lead throughout the entire match and were able to capitalize on 17 out of their 25 chances at goal.
This match increased the Waves’ record to 9-3 on the season, and it increased their home record to 3-1.
The Waves will travel Thursday to play No.-7 UC Irvine in their first MPSF match. The game is at 7 p.m. at the Anteaters’ Aquatic Complex. This will be the third time that these two teams have matched up this season, with Pepperdine ahead 2-0 in the series.
Pepperdine defeated the Anteaters 7-4 at the SoCal Tournament on Sept. 18. at UC Irvine and beat them again 7-5 in Malibu on Sept. 24.
“Going into conference, we need to remember to stay focused and we need to keep growing as a team,” Schroeder said. “If we keep focusing on getting better, then we will be successful in conference.”
10-06-2005
