Photos courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics
For the first time since the Gold Coast Conference Championship’s debut season in 2016, the Pepperdine Waves are its champions.
After fighting their way to a dominant 22-7 regular-season record, the Waves squeaked by Santa Barbara on Nov. 24 in a 10-9 overtime victory and had one opponent standing in the way of a potential conference championship.
“I’m just really proud of the guys,” Head Coach Terry Schroeder said. “A lot of adversity over the years, but the seniors turned this program around, and I couldn’t be happier for them.”
The team celebrates poolside before GCC Awards Ceremony
Long Beach State was a familiar foe for Pepperdine this season as they faced-off three times prior and won every game. This time around, the Sharks played with extra motivation as they rode a four-game win-streak and had upset the University of Pacific on Saturday.
Both offenses started hot in the first half, and despite a third quarter surge from the Sharks, it was Pepperdine’s defense that engineered the win.
Chris Dilworth, one of the three fifth year seniors for the Waves, got things started with a goal just 42 seconds into the game.
The Sharks quickly answered with two goals of their own before sophomore Sean Ferrari tied the game with his 24th goal of the season. Both teams traded goals, and Long Beach scored the last goal of the quarter, going up 5-4.
The second period was when the Waves offense started clicking. They rattled off five straight goals and took a commanding 9-5 lead.
Fifth-year senior Sean Thomas, who was also named MVP of the game, said the team tried not to get carried away with their scoring array.
“It wasn’t different than a lot of our other games,” Thomas said. “We made our runs, and we knew that they would make theirs. We just had to keep our heads in the game.”
Going on a run is exactly what the Sharks did. After a clutch goal with four seconds left in the half to bring the score to 9-6, they started the second half with three goals in less than three minutes to re-tie the game.
After watching the lead vanish, Schroeder said it was not difficult to get his team to respond to the challenge.
“We’ve had adversity all year,” Schroeder said. “We’ve won fourth quarters, and we knew we would have to win the fourth quarter today. Long Beach went into a hard press and took the momentum. Luckily, we took it back.”
Junior Defender Coleman Carpenter celebrates after a 4th quarter Pepperdine goal.
It was Thomas who ended the Waves’ scoring drought with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. After a quick answer from Long Beach, sophomore Jake Gordon scored a goal with three seconds left in the third to give Pepperdine the 11-10 lead.
After trading goals once more and remaining down by one, Long Beach State had one last offensive push in the final minute. Long Beach State freshman Rafael Real Vergara, who had three goals on the day, got the ball for the last attempt. From 12 feet in front of the goal, he fired a shot, corralled by junior J.C. Marco, for his 12th and final save of the game.
Marco said he was ready to step up with the game on the line.
“I was excited,” Marco said. “I knew they had to shoot at me to win. It was a good shot, but I was able to block it. When I saw it come off my hand, I knew we had won, and it was such a good feeling.”
Dilworth had similar excitement when he saw Marco make the game-winning save.
“I almost didn’t believe it at first,” Dilworth said. “There’s been so much hard work and dedication from this team. When I saw the clock hit zero and we were up, I was just ecstatic.”
Pepperdine did not look back for the rest of the game and pulled out the victory by a score of 14-12.
After the game, Schroeder raved about the group of seniors highlighted by Dilworth, Thomas and Marko Asic that helped turn Pepperdine Water Polo around.
“Four years ago, this program was almost dead,” Schroeder said. “It was really ugly, and I think we finished the season with nine guys. Our group of seniors resurrected the program, and our staff has also done a great job in recruiting. We’re doing something special here, and I’m really proud of all the guys.”
Schroeder, the entire coaching staff and President Jim Gash take a victory dip in the pool with the team
With the victory, Pepperdine receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It is their first appearance since 1997 when they won the National Championship.
Pepperdine will travel to the University of Pacific to battle UC Davis on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 2:45 p.m.
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Email Austin Hall: austin.hall@pepperdine.edu
