Led by senior Andrew Milkovich, No. 9 Pepperdine fell to the vicious pressure of No. 1 UCLA (who share the leading position with USC) in the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool at the last home game of the season. The Bruins outscored the Waves 9-6 after the intense battle last Saturday.
“We beat ourselves more than they beat us,” sophomore Mike Tragitt said, “We had many good opportunities to score, and it is very unfortunate that we did not.”
The Waves were down in the first quarter as the Bruins attack in the beginning of the game brought them far ahead to 4-1. Pepperdine, however, managed to concentrate on the defense and tie in the other three quarters (2-2, 1-1, 2-2). Despite the tremendous effort, the team could not make up for the lost points.
Senior Spencer Hamby and junior Danny White made several outstanding passes and scoring two goals each.
Throughout the game, the Bruins were led by junior attacker Griffin White, who earned the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Player of the Week Honor.
The goalkeepers of each team, Bence Valics (Pepperdine) and Matt Rapacz, finished the game with 10 saves each.
“We have almost two weeks to get ready for the next tournament, and it is a top priority for the team to practice and learn from our past mistakes,” sophomore Nick Cooper said. “We will definitely work on improving.”
Pepperdine’s men’s water polo is approaching the end of season with a record of 12-11. UCLA will host the MPSF tournament starting Friday, Nov. 25.
Pepperdine Graphic