A pair of overtime losses to Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara shadowed the men’s water polo team (12-9, 2-4) this weekend. The Waves fell 14-12 and 16-15, respectively.
“We scored enough goals to win in both games,” attacker senior Andrew Milcovich said. “We just couldn’t find a defensive rhythm.”
On Saturday the team hopes to defeat No. 2-ranked University of Southern California. Last year the Waves lost a tight 7-6 battle against the three-time national champion Trojans.
“USC is a very disciplined program and it’s been a while since we’ve beaten them,” Milcovich said. “We have all the tools to execute and perform. We just need to find our defensive identity.”
Defensive consistency proved to be the key weakness contributing to the team’s losses, and something they will undoubtedly work on in preparation for Saturday.
The Waves only gave up two goals in the first half against the No. 9-ranked 49ers, but then allowed 12 goals in the second half.
Despite the flood of goals the Waves allowed, they fought back with the same intensity. The 49-ers netted a whopping five goals in the fourth quarter, and the Waves matched them.
Attacker sophomore Nick Cooper tied up the game with two seconds left to carry his team into overtime (10-10), but they could not hold on and were outscored 4-2 in the extra period.
Utility player freshman Luke Hewko and Cooper scored three goals a piece in the tough loss.
On another note, key player senior Nate Castillo broke his thumb in the first quarter of the game and was unable to play the following day against UC Santa Barbara.
“Nate getting injured hurt our team on Sunday,” Milcovich said. “He brings a lot of energy.”
In addition to being a man down, the Waves followed the same pattern of a weak second half against the No. 5-ranked Gauchos.
UC Santa Barbara took them down early on in the first quarter (3-0), but the team managed to make a comeback in their high point of the weekend.
The Waves went on a 7-1 run from the end of the first quarter that carried into the second quarter to snag a 7-4 lead. However it was not enough as the Gauchos owned the second half 8-5 to tie up the game, and then overtook the Waves in overtime 4-3.
“For some reason we can’t focus at the end of the game,” goalkeeper sophomore Bence Valics said. “We made mental mistakes in crucial situations at the end of the game, which enabled them to beat us even though we were dominating in the first and second quarters.”
Despite the teams difficulties, according to Milcovich, attacker junior Collin Carroll, Hewko and Cooper stood out in the two matches.
“Luke is our only true freshman, and he had a breakout weekend,” Milcovich said. “He is going to be an outstanding player in the future.”
The team has lost four of their total five overtime games this season, but they have gained valuable lessons from the heartbreaking losses.
“We have to learn how to beat teams in the first four quarters, instead of hoping for overtime wins,” Valics said. “When we are up by two or three goals we still need to stay focused and treat the game as if the score is 0-0.”
The Waves are in the hunt for the playoffs, according to Milcovich. They have two MPSF games remaining, as they face USC in an away game Saturday and UCLA at home Nov. 12.
