Sept. 27, 2003
Los Angeles, Calif. -- The third-ranked Pepperdine University water polo team (6-1) took advantage of five unanswered goals in the second half to drop crosstown rivals Loyola Marymount (5-6) 9-2 on Saturday afternoon at Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center.
In front of another solid crowd of 400, the Waves led by just two, 4-2 at the break. However, Michael Hausmann scored two of his four goals in the third quarter to pace the Waves to five unanswered goals in the second half to pull away from the Lions.
"We are very happy with the effort that Michael provided us with today," said head coach Terry Schroeder, who is in his 18th season at Pepperdine. Anytime Pepperdine and LMU play it is always a tough batttle and it's great that we came out on top. This win gives us confidence going into a tough NorCal Tournament next weekend at Stanford."
Pepperdine improves to 6-1 on the season after beating its fifth Top-10 opponent, while LMU falls to 5-6 in their sixth straight game against a Top-10 team.
Pepperdine started the scoring with a pair of goals by Jesse Smith, giving the Waves a quick 2-0 lead with 2:12 left in the first frame. LMU's sophomore Endre Rex-Kiss would cut the lead in half with a feed from senior Kris Barr with 40 seconds remaining.
The second quarter was more of the same as Pepperdine scored the first two of the frame. Haussman scored twice, once with 5:20 remaining and then less than a minute later to make the score 4-1. Rex-Kiss would score the Lions' final goal of the day with 3:10 left in the half to make the score 4-2.
Josh Acosta would score at the 5:35 mark of the third quarter to start the Waves five-goal second half. Hausmann would score his third with 3:34 remaining. The Lions would then have an opportunity to cut the lead in half as senior Scott Smith would race up the right side on a break-away with 1:35 remaining. With the advantage on the defense, Smith's shot went off the cross bar. Taking advantage of the rebound, the Waves countered and scored with their own odd-man rush with 1:30 remaining to push the score to 7-2. The Waves would add two more for the final score.
LMU had its chances, drawing 12 extra-man advantages compared to Pepperdine's five. However, LMU would manage just one power-play goal to finish 1-for-12 on the day. The Waves were 2-for-5.
Next up for Pepperdine is the NorCal Tournament on Oct. 3-4 at Stanford. The Waves will face-off against UC Davis at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Box Score
#3 Pepperdine 2 2 4 1 -- 9
#8 LMU 1 1 0 0 -- 2
Scoring: Pepperdine: Michael Hausmann 4, Jesse Smith 2, Josh Acosta, Morgan Matthies, France Denk LMU: Endre Rex-Kiss 2
Saves: Pepperdine: Ben Tait 5, Michael Lee 6 LMU: Ian Elliot 6, Justin Coleman 3
