Water Polo Hosts Long Beach Saturday
10/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
UPCOMING — The No. 5 Pepperdine men’s water polo team plays its first home game since the Malibu fires this weekend when they meet No. 8 Long Beach for a conference dual. An exhibition game between Pepperdine and Cal Baptist will follow.
GAME #28 — The Waves (21-6, 1-3) host Long Beach (14-10, 1-4) at home on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 12 p.m., at the Raleigh-Runnels Memorial Pool. The 49er’s suffered two losses last weekend to No. 2 Cal (10-5) and No.13 Pacific (11-10). The last time Pepperdine met Long Beach was at the SoCal Tournament (Oct. 14). The Waves won the match 8-7. Following the conclusion of the Pepperdine vs. Long Beach match, the Waves will play an exhibition game against Cal Baptist.
PEPPERDINE VS. CALIFORNIA — The No. 5 Waves fell to No. 2 Cal 6-4 (Oct. 26). According to head coach Jack Kocur, "it was a tough battle." The match was played in Berkeley after the Malibu fires forced the original (Oct. 21) match to be cancelled.
PEPPERDINE VS. STANFORD — Pepperdine suffered a disappointing loss to No. 4 Stanford on Sunday (Oct. 28) 11-7. Stanford came out ready to avenge their three-game losing streak and mounted a strong offense from the start of the match.
STANDOUTS — Freshman Caleb Hamilton (Irvine, Calif. / Northwood HS) led the Wave offense recording three goals at the Stanford game and junior Adam Hewko (Irvine, Calif. / Servite HS) scored two goals against Cal and one against Stanford. Sophomore Clayton Snyder (Seal Beach, Calif. / Los Alamitos HS) added a goal at each game as did sophomore attacker J.P MacDonell (Redwood City, Calif. / Redwood HS).
PEPPERDINE IN THE POLLS — The Waves are tied with Irvine for the No. 5 spot. The team has held the No. 5 position for the seventh straight week. Pepperdine is now the only school in the top ten to maintain its position for any length of time as Cal moved to No. 1, UCLA is No. 2, USC is No.3, Stanford is No.4 and Santa Barbara moved to No.7.
WAVES IN THE NATIONAL TOP 50 — Pepperdine was represented in each of the individual and team national water polo rankings this week. On the top 50 individual goal scorers list was No. 38 J.P. MacDonell (41 goals, 1.7 per game) and No. 42 Adam Hewko (40 goals, 1.9 per game) holding their positions for the second straight week. For top saves, Travis Stachowski moved up to No. 25 (114 saves, 7.1 per game) . In team rankings, the Waves stayed at No. 6. for team goal leaders (306 goals, 11.3 per game) and moved down to No. 6 for defensive leaders (197 goals against, 7.3 per game).
SIX PLAYERS IN MPSF TOP RANKINGS — Travis Stachowski fell to No. 4 for goals against average (16 goals, 6.94 goals against average) For scoring leaders, Adam Hewko continued to hold the No. 7 spot (40 goals, 1.90 per game), J.P. MacDonell fell to No. 11 (41 goals, 1.71 per game), Caleb Hamilton was No. 14 (26 goals, 1.63 per game) and Clayton Snyder moved up five spots to No. 20 (30 goals, 1.30 per game). Holding the No. 25 spot is Grant Miller (28 goals, 1.22 per game). For team points, Pepperdine moved to No. 4 (306 goals, 11.33 per game). The Waves remain ranked No. 4 for team goalkeeping (236 saves, 197 game average, 7.30 goals against average).
NEW PHOTOS IN GALLERY — Pictures from the Pacific game (Oct. 20) are now in the gallery. Many thanks to Scott Hubbell for the additional photos now in the reunion album. The Waves water polo website www.pepperdinesports.com can be accessed by going to the blue button on the left hand side of the page marked photo galleries.
UP NEXT — Pepperdine hosts Long Beach State on Saturday Nov. 3, at 12 p.m
JACK KOCUR — Coach Jack Kocur served as interim head coach for the 2006 season, and this will be his first season as head coach as he takes over for Terry Schroeder who is serving as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Team. Kocur was a member of Pepperdine’s 1997 national championship team, earning first All-American honors as a senior. Kocur had spent four seasons as an assistant under Schroeder prior to the 2006 season. Former Pepperdine player William Rodriguez is in his second season as assistant coach.
