Waves Edged Out by USC at the Buzzer, 3-2 - Pepperdine University Official Athletic Site

Waves Edged Out by USC at the Buzzer, 3-2

The Pepperdine men's wate polo team finished second at the MPSF Championships after losing a heartbreaker to USC on the final buzzer.

MALIBU, Calif. Â– With a game winning goal by USC on the buzzer the Pepperdine men’s water polo team had to settle for second place in the MPSF Championships Sunday evening, at the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.

An intensely fought match by both teams saw the score at 0-0 in the first period. With 2:25 on the clock in the second quarter Adam Hewko (Irvine, Calif./Servite HS) scored the first goal of the game to give the Waves a 1-0 lead. Peter Artukovich answered back with a shot in the cage for USC at 1:49 to tie the match 1-1.

Andrew Milcovich (Walnut Creek, Calif./ De La Salle HS) scored on a 6-on-5 opportunity to give the lead back to the Waves at 2-1, with 4:03 remaining in the third period.

Strong defensive play by both goalkeepers kept the scoring low. The fourth period went without a goal until there was 1:23 remaining in the match and Justin Rappel scored for USC to tie the score 2-2. The match seemed destined for overtime when Hewko was ejected with 5 seconds on the clock and the Trojans scored on a man-up opportunity as the buzzer sounded.

USC clinched a berth for the NCAA final four for winning the tournament. An at-large team is to be selected tonight by an NCAA appointed committee. Both Stanford and Pepperdine are expected to vie for the spot.

USC vs. Pepperdine 3-2

1 2 3 4

USC 0 1 0 2

Pepperdine 0 1 1 0

USC Goals: (Peter Kurzeka 1, Justin Rappel 1, Shea Buckner 1,)

Pepperdine Goals: (Adam Hewko 1, Andrew Milcovich 1,)

Goalie Saves: John Hahn (Pepperdine) 12, Joel Dennerly 13.

6-on-5: (Pepperdine 1-for-6) (USC 1-for-4)

Stanford vs. USC 10-7

Stanford finished the MPSF Tournament in third place after defeating UCLA, 10-7. The Cardinal took an early lead at 3-0 in the first period, finishing the half up by two goals at 5-2. UCLA came back in the third to score three goals in a row to close the gap by one at 6-5 with 3:02 left in the period. Two goals by Stanford's Sage Wright and one by Janson Wigo in the fourth gave the Cardinal the win. Goalkeeper Jimmie Sandman had 12 saves for Sanford and Janson Wigo, Drac Wigo and Sage Wright all scored hat tricks for the Cardinal. Krusto Sbutega recorded a hat trick for UCLA.

1 2 3 4

UCLA 0 2 3 2 7

Stanford 3 2 2 3 10

UCLA Goals: (Jacob Murphy 2, Clay Jorth 1, Krsto Sbutega 3, Scott Davidson 1,)

Stanford Goals: (Drac Wigo 3, Janson Wigo 3, Alex Pulido 1, Sage Wright 3,)

Goalie Saves: Chay Lapin (UCLA) 6, Jimmie Sandman (Stanford) 12

6-on-5: (UCLA 2-for-9) (Stanford 3-for-8)

UCSB vs. UCI 9-7 OT

UC Santa Barbara finished fifth in the MPSF after defeating UC Irvine 9-7, in overtime. The Anteaters had a two goal lead at the half with a score of 5-3. The Gauchos scored four goals in the second half to tie the game and went on to score one goal in each overtime period. Goal keeper Fraser Bunn had 11 saves for UCSB. UCI went 3-for-5 on 6-on-5 opportunities.

1 2 3 4 OT1 OT2

UCI 2 3 1 1 0 0

UCSB 3 0 2 2 1 1

UCI Goals: (Brandon Johnson 2, Max Parrague 1, Griffin Lerman 1, James Frank 1, Jesse Hatch 1, Greg Enloe 1

UCSB Goals: (Noah Smith 2, Brian Bishop 1, Milos Golic 2, Miles Price 2, Dane Lindstrom 1, Jesse Tootell 1,

Goalie Saves: Fraser Bunn (UCSB) 11, Matt Johnson (UCI) 9

6-on-5: (UCI 3-of-5) (UCSB 3-of-9)

California vs. Long Beach 13-9

California finished seventh in the MPSF Conference Tournament after defeating Long Beach State, 13-9, on Sunday morning. Cal had a three point lead at the half with a score of 7-4. The 49er's came back in the third to tie the score on a goal by Jake Kinne with 3:03 on the clock. Cal answered with two shots in the cage to pull ahead by two at 10-8. Fourth period saw Cal on a three goal run with Long Beach scoring the final goal with three seconds left in the game.

1 2 3 4

Cal 4 3 3 3 13

LB 3 1 4 1 9

Cal Goals: (Frank Reynlods 2, Ivan Rackov 2, Spencer Warden 2, Cory Nasoff 1,Trent Calder 1, Charles Steffens 1, Brian Dudley 2, Zach White 2,)

Long Beach Goals: (Justin Koeppin 2, Jeff Greenwood 2, Ashley Blythen 2, Taylor Clute 1, Aleksander Petrovic 1, Jake Kinne 1,)

Goalie Saves: Wil Toppen (Cal) 7, Derek Wiebe-Bailey (LB) 4

6-on-5: (Cal 7-of-9) (LB 6-of-13)