In their first home game of the season the No. 8 men’s water polo team at Pepperdine beat No. 9 Cal State Long Beach with an 8-7 victory. Senior utility Brett Auer led the game giving Pepperdine the momentum to charge till the end of the game and clinch the “W.”
Senior attacker JP MacDonell said it was a good win after multiple tough losses.
“It was a necessary win and we are looking to improve our game each day and peak at the MPSF championships MacDonell said.
In the first period, the Waves were up by only one goal. During two six-on-five opportunities, senior attacker Taylor Watson put two balls in the net. The first goal, scored by Watson, was followed by a Long Beach penalty shot at 6:59. On a 5-meter penalty given to Long Beach, junior attacker Andrew Milcovich got all net, with the clock reading 3:40. The game was soon tied at 2-2 with 1:20 left in the first period. Then, with only 19 seconds left, Watson scored his second critical goal for the game.
The second period began with an early goal from Long Beach to tie the game at 3-3. Auer scored quick back-to-back goals in response to the early shot in the second period. The Waves ended the half up by two, at 5-3, thanks to Auer.
Two more six-on-five opportunities were given to Pepperdine, but unfortunately, the Waves were unable to score in the early part of the third period.
MacDonell noted that this is an area the team needs to improve upon.
We controlled the tempo of the game but we need to work on our player advantage and finishing the ball in front of the cage MacDonell said.
Long Beach soon had a power play following the Waves’ failure to succeed on theirs and scored, making the scoreboard read 5-4. Auer scored again with a six-on-five goal with only 3:33 left in the period. The game was soon tied at 6-6 with 1:18 left in the third period.
MacDonell substituted in at the fourth period and soon after put a ball straight into the net, and Pepperdine was back up at 7-6. The final goal for the Waves was scored by senior attacker Sam Busby with 3:05 left on the clock. A goal got past freshman goalkeeper Thomas O’Connell, but a strong defense prevented any further goals for Long Beach. With that, Pepperdine had their first home victory, with a final score of 8-7.
O’Connell had an outstanding 15 saves, which definitely helped the Waves in their win.
Tommy had a good game and our defense did a good job funneling the ball to our goalie MacDonell said.
Coming up for the water polo team is a match against UC Irvine on Oct. 10 in Irvine at 9:20 a.m.