The Pepperdine men’s water polo team narrowly lost to the undefeated USC Trojans, 3-2, in the thrilling championship game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament on a foggy Sunday afternoon in Malibu.
The game matched up the effective Pepperdine offense, which has three of the MPSF’s top ten goal scorers, against the tough USC defense, which has not allowed an opponent to score more than nine goals in a game due to the impressive goal tending of freshman Joel Dennerley.
From the start of the game it was apparent that goals would be hard to come by, as both Dennerley and the Waves’ freshman goaltender, John Hahn, made spectacular early saves. Neither team scored until the second quarter, when senior Adam Hewko made a goal for the Waves. The Trojans quickly responded with a goal of their own to tie the score at one by halftime.
In the third quarter, sophomore Andrew Milcovich scored to give the Waves a 2-1 advantage. After that, neither team scored until there was one minute twenty three seconds left in the fourth quarter, when USC tied the score at two. With sixteen seconds left, the Trojans had the ball for a final possession. The referee ejected the Waves’ Adam Hewko after he committed a major foul, which gave the Trojans a one man advantage. USC responded by scoring a goal at the buzzer to secure the win.
“It was a battle. It was definitely a game that could have gone either way,” Pepperdine volunteer coach Terry Schroeder, who is also the head coach of the United States Olympic water polo team, said. “[The players] played their hearts out, and they should keep their heads up.”
Many people were surprised that the score of the game was so low, and that the freshman goalies from each team were able to handle the pressure of playing in the conference tournament championship game so well.
“I though this was going to be a higher-scoring game,” USC head coach Jovan Vavic said. “This was the type of game where when the goalies get hot, it is tough to score.”
The Trojans (27-0) had already defeated the Waves (21-7) two times this season. In September, the Trojans defeated the Waves in overtime, 7-6, and in Oct., the Trojans won 14-5.
To advance to the championship game, the Waves defeated No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, 11-7, on Friday. In the semifinals on Saturday, the Waves upset No. 2 Stanford in overtime, 8-7, behind Brett Auer’s three goals.
By winning the MPSF tournament, the Trojans earned an automatic position in the 2008 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championships, which will take place on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7 in the Avery Aquatic Center at Stanford University.