After win over San Jose State, Pepperdine can clinch conference championship with win over Pacific
After Pepperdine water polo player Chase Wilson tossed the ball into the back of the net to give his squad a three-goal advantage in the second half of the Waves’ win over the San Jose State Spartans at Pepperdine’s Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on Nov. 9, the sophomore center let out a celebratory yell and smacked the surface of the pool water.
The Waves had plenty to celebrate. The squad went on to claim a 13-10 victory. The win put the squad one victory away from winning the West Coast Conference for the second straight season.
Pepperdine head coach Merrill Moses said being at the precipice of winning the conference title is amazing.
“I’m very proud of the guys,” Moses said. “Our team culture, our team chemistry, they guys are working for each other tremendously. When it comes down to it, it’s the players and the coaching staff all united for a specific goal, which is towin our conference championship and go to the NCAAs. The atmosphere we build at Pepperdine makes us very successful.”
The Waves head into their regular-season finale matchup against the Pacific Tigers in Stockton on Saturday with a 20-6 overall record and a 5-0 record in the WCC. If Pepperdine defeats Pacific, the team will be WCC champions and clinch a first-round bye in the conference tournament, which is Nov. 22 to 24, also in Stockton. If the Waves lose, they will be a second or third seed in the postseason event. The winner of the conference tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Waves junior attacker Adam Csapo had one goal, three assists, and one drawn exclusion in the victory over San Jose State. Sandor Gal, a junior attacker, registered three steals, one drawn exclusion, one steal, and one field block. Attacker Christian Hosea, a graduate student, recorded two goals, one steal, and one field block. Freshman utility Owen Tift had two goals, one assist, and two field blocks.
Eleven different players scored for Pepperdine. Moses said that makes the victory “a true team win.”
Max Smirnov, a freshman goalkeeper, had 16 saves on defense for Pepperdine, which limited San Jose State’s standout scorer, center Bence Szabo to one goal, an assist, and three drawn exclusions.
“We shut him down,” Moses said. “He had no goals out of set. Our guys did a great job. Max probably had his best performance of the year.”
Tift, Hosea, and attacker Jackson Benners, a redshirt freshman, scored goals for the Waves in the opening quarter. The game was knotted at 3 the beginning of the second quarter when senior attacker Clay Kaneko netted a score for Pepperdine. After junior center Milo Joseph tied the match at 5, Fifth-year attacker Antony D’Ambra scored to put the home team up a point. Hosea’s next goal gave Pepperdine a 7-6 lead at halftime.
Redshirt freshman center Bronson Birdsall increased the Waves’ lead to two when he scored at the end of the shot clock on the first play of the third quarter. Csapo threw in a goal right after Smirnov caught his 13th save. San Jose State scored again, but a toss of the ball from Conor Brough, a junior attacker, found its way to the back of the net at the end of the quarter to give Pepperdine a 10-7 lead.
The Spartans scored first in the fourth quarter, but then Wilson scored to increase the Waves lead by three points. Sophomore utility Jon Carcarey scored for Pepperdine next. Tift gave the Waves a 13-9 lead when he scored on an empty net after Hosea stole the ball. The Spartans scored once more before the contest ended.
The Waves honored D’Ambra, Hosea, Kaneko, Dane Howell, and Ryan Reagen during a Senior Day ceremony before the match.
Moses said the five have helped establish the Waves’ winning culture this season.
“Our team is very well respected in the community and on Pepperdine’s campus,” he said. “It was great to see all of them get in the water today. Each one of them has contributed to the team’s success this year and the success and culture of our program.”
Moses is a former Waves star and Olympic player. He served as an assistant or associate head coach for the Waves since 2012. This year, though he was handed the head coaching reins from legendary coach Terry Schroeder, who is now the team’s associate head coach. Moses, coached by Schroeder as a college player and Olympian, said he learned a lot from the Hall-of-Fame water polo figure.
By his own admission, Moses coaches with a lot of passion.
“I’m a boisterous speaker, who will yell out directions,” he explained. “It all comes down to the players in practice though. A lot of the coaching happens in the preparation the week before. I have kept the motto, ‘We are not big yellers at Pepperdine, but we will yell when needed.’”