Waves Open MPSF Season at USC Saturday
9/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
UPCOMING - The No. 8 Pepperdine men's water polo team (3-5) looks to rebound from a disappointing eighth place finish at the NorCal Tournament last weekend. The Waves have their first MPSF dual match of the season on Saturday when they travel to USC.
GAME #9 PEPPERDINE VS. USC (3:15 p.m. @ McDonald's Swim Stadium on the USC campus)
The No. 3 Trojans (8-1) are coming off a third place finish at the NorCal Tournament. USC has held the title for the previous four years. USC's ranking dropped from No.1 to No. 3 after its loss to UCLA in the semifinals of the NorCal Tournament.
The Trojans are the 2008 NCAA Div. I champions. They have six returners from last season's team with five of them being All-Americans.
USC is led by head coach Jovan Vavic.
2009 WATER POLO MEDIA GUIDE - The 2009 Pepperdine men's water polo media guide is now up on the website for viewing.
PACIFIC RECAP - The No. 7 Pepperdine men's water polo team blew by Pacific in the first game of the series, 10-4.
Senior JP MacDonell (Redwood City, Calif./Bellarmine Prep) led the Waves (3-3) to a 10-4 first round victory over No. 10 Pacific. MacDonell netted four goals while junior Andrew Milcovich (Walnut Creek, Calif./De La Salle HS) was responsible for two.
Pepperdine got off to an early lead with five goals scored in the first quarter. Pacific was down 5-0 going into the second quarter. The Waves were up 7-1 at the half. Pacific came back to score three goals in the second half, but it wasn't enough to make up for a big Pepperdine lead.
Goalkeepers Bryce McLain (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Beach HS) was responsible for four saves while Tommy O'Connell (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) had one.
STANFORD RECAP - The Waves battled a tough Cardinal (6-0) team in the afternoon, ending the first half trailing by one goal at 8-7. However, Stanford kept its momentum going with seven goals in the second half to Pepperdine's two.
JP MacDonell led the offense with three goals while Clayton Snyder (Seal Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos HS) added two. McLain has six saves in the goal
The Waves meet the loser of this evening's UCLA vs. LMU game, tomorrow at 9:50 a.m. at the Avery Pool.
UC SANTA BARBARA RECAP - A closely contested match against the No. 6 Gauchos (5-3) saw the No. 7 Waves (3-5) up by two at 4-2 at the half. Both teams netted two goals each in the third quarter with Pepperdine leading 6-4. UCSB had a big fourth quarter with five goals scored to the Waves two and the score was tied 9-9.
Clayton Snyder and JP MacDonell left the game in overtime with injuries and the Waves were defeated 11-10. The Gauchos scored the winning goal in the second overtime period.
MacDonell led the offense for the third straight game with three goals while Snyder was responsible for two. Tom O'Connell had five saves in the goal.
UC IRVINE - The Waves battled No. 8 UC Irvine (6-2) for seventh place in the final match of the day. Clayton Snyder and JP MacDonell missed the game due to their injuries.
The Anteaters led by one goal through the third period ending at 6-5. Once again, Pepperdine suffered in the fourth period with UCI scoring three goals to one. The buzzer sounded with the Anteaters up by three at 9-6.
Taylor Watson led the offense for the Waves with two goals. Tom O'Connell was credited with four saves.
PEPPERDINE IN THE POLLS - The Waves fell to No. 8 in the national rankings this week, according to the latest NCAA Div. I polls.
MPSF STATS: JP MacDonell is ranked No. 2 for goals scored with a 2.57 average per game. Thomas O'Connell is ranked No. 10 for goalie saves with a 4.00 average per game and No. 5 for goals against with a 4.83 average per game. The Waves are ranked No. 8 for team goals at 9.38 per game and No. 7 for team defense with 7.88 per game.
COACH KOCUR - Coach Jack Kocur is in his fourth year as head coach. Kocur took over the position from Terry Schroeder when he took a leave of absence to serve as the assistant coach for the U.S. National Team in 2006. Kocur was a member of the Waves 1997 national championship team, earning first All-American honors as a senior. Kocur spent four seasons as an assistant under Schroeder.
COACH O'BRIEN - Coach Gary O'Brien begins his second season as assistant coach. O'Brien played for UCLA and then went on to play semi-professionally in Australia. He has eight years of coaching experience at the high school, community college, university and club level.
COACH MATTHIES - Coach Marty Matthies joins the Waves staff as the volunteer coach this season. Matthies was a member of the California 2006 NCAA championship team. He played for the USA Water Polo National Senior Team in 2005. Matthies is the son of Pepperdine's Head Women's Volleyball Coach Nina Matthies.
PEPPERDINE HISTORY - In its 34 seasons, the Pepperdine water polo program has posted an overall record of 648-382-8, including a 163-108 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record. The Waves have posted 15 20+ winning seasons and advanced to the NCAA Championships 12 times, claiming the program's lone national title in 1997.
SUPER SENIOR CLASS - The senior class is comprised of two returning starters and four returning players who were an integral part of the 2008 team. JP MacDonell and Clayton Snyder lead the team as the 2009 co-captain. MacDonell was selected as a 2008 All-American third team and All MPSF first team. He was a member of the 2009 USA Water Polo University Team. Snyder enters his second season as a co-captain. He was named to the 2008 All-MPSF third team and the All-MPSF academic team.
Taylor Watson had a strong 2008 season and will be a contender for a starting position. Brett Auer came back at the end of the season after recovering from an injury. He led the Waves with three goals in an upset victory against Stanford at the 2008 MPSF semi-finals. Christian Cardey, Preston Lujan, Sam Busby and Jacob Young round out the senior class. The group has been together all four years with the exception of Young who transferred as a junior in 2008. All four saw significant playing time in the 2008 season and are expected to be key on defense and counter attacks.
REDSHIRTS RETURN - Four redshirts are anxious to get back in the pool this season. Travis Gough, Matt Brown, Jonathan Flowers and Milos Purkovic should all see some action this year. Gough was one of the top freshman scorers in 2007. He scored five goals in a game twice (Whittier and Cal Lutheran). Brown, Flowers and Purkovic will make their debut as Waves this season.
JUNIORS - Andrew Milcovich and Bryce Mclain will represent the junior class this year. Milcovich is a returning starter and a 2008 MPSF All-Academic team selection. McLain is expected to be the starting goal keeper for the Waves.
AMAZING FRESHMAN CLASS - Fourteen freshmen make the 2009 class one of the largest in Pepperdine history.
Among the group are two USA Water Polo Junior National Team members: Spencer Hamby and James Perry. Fellow Wave Mathew Carter played for South Africa's Junior National Team.
Twelve remaining freshmen fill every position on the roster and look to provide the Waves with depth this season.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE - Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men's sports - one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine's teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.
