SARAH DAUGHERTY/Staff Photographer
SHUHEI MATSUO
Sports Editor
The fifth-ranked Pepperdine men’s water polo team’s perfect home record for this campaign was snapped when No.-8 Long Beach State beat the Waves 7-5 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on Saturday. The Waves bounced back in the second game against California Baptist when they beat the non-ranked team 13-9.
The Waves (22-7) scored the first goal, delivered by redshirt junior Adam Hewko, in the first game but lost control of the match and never regained their lead after about three minutes into the first quarter.
Assistant Coach William Rodriguez said the turning point of the game was when redshirt junior Mat MacDonell was ejected from the match during the third quarter after a penalty.
Although MacDonell was only excluded for that game, Pepperdine was already missing three key players – sophomore JP MacDonell and freshmen Caleb Hamilton and Andrew Milkovich – due to the suspension that was given to them during the Stanford match last Sunday. While the sophomore attacker was suspended for one game (vs. Long Beach), the freshmen players were not allowed to play both of today’s matches.
JP MacDonell started today’s second game against Cal Baptist and led Pepperdine’s offense with four goals. He said it was tough not being able to play in the match against Long Beach.
“It was one of the first times I’ve seen from another perspective, like sitting in the stands,” he said. “And it was just tough not to be there for my team to help them.”
However, JP MacDonell also said it was a good experience because he learned that he needs to have more control and play more humbly.
Players are not the only ones that can be ejected from a game. Head Coach Jack Kocur received a red card and was excluded from today’s first match with two minutes remaining. He had to sit out for the match against Cal Baptist.
“It was just miscommunication,” Kocur said.
Pepperdine is back in action when it travels to UC Irvine on Friday. All the suspended members of the team will be back in this match.
11-03-2007
