Pepperdine University
USC
No. 2 USC Holds Off No. 10 Pepperdine, 7-6
11/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 11, 2010
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The tenth-ranked Pepperdine men's water polo team put up a fight against No. 2 USC at McDonalds Olympic Swim Stadium on Veteran's Day, but the Men of Troy eventually prevailed 7-6 after a shot by redshirt junior Travis Gough (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad HS) was field blocked with a second remaining.
The non-conference loss dropped the Waves' record to 9-13, while USC improved to 21-2. Pepperdine resumes MPSF play this Saturday at 4 p.m. vs. No. 4 UCLA and completes its regular season next weekend at UC Santa Barbara.
Even though tonight's loss was a tough one for the Waves, head coach Jack Kocur wanted his team first to understand the significance of playing on Veteran's Day during before discussing any part of the game strategy.
"We didn't even go over the X's and O's before the game," he said, "instead we focused on what believe Veteran's Day means to this team and this country.
"We went around the circle and talked about our family members who are veterans and we played tonight's game for them. We are proud of our service men and women and thankful that they're out there fighting for our freedoms."
Pepperdine started the game in a 2-0 hole, but came back to score three first-quarter goals within the span of two minutes. Freshman Jake Schrimpf (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) got Pepperdine on the board with a five-meter bounce shot that skipped inside the far post, and then sophomore Tommy Briskey (Orinda, Calif./Cal) cut the lead to 3-2 with the Waves' riding the extra-man advantage.
Gough tied the game at 3-3 with 44 seconds left in the first, one-timing a shot from the near side, but the Trojans retook the lead for good on their final possession after receiving a 6-on-5 goal by Mace Raspey.
USC shutout Pepperdine 2-0 in the second quarter and scored the first goal of the third (at 6:39) to take a commanding 7-3 lead, but the Waves refused to throw in the towel.
Sophomore Spencer Hamby (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) kick started the mini-rally with an improbable whip-around backhand from inside the pit that made it a three-goal game, and then on the Waves' next possession, Stephen Loomis (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo HS) buried a shot taken beyond the five-meter line.
Gough scored his second goal of the game at the 3:22 mark of the fourth quarter to get the Waves' to within one score, but the Trojans forced two more turnovers and a two-meter shot by Hamby sailed wide.
"USC is a great program," sophomore Danny White said. "They are well-rounded and disciplined team, and can be tough to score on unless you can get the ball inside like we did a few times in the first half."
"But I feel good about how we played together as a team tonight," he said. "This is a good game for us to build off of and will go a long way in helping us reach our peak at the MPSF Tournament."
In between USC's seven goals were some marvelous saves by freshman goalkeeper Bence Valics (Eger, Hungary/Erzsebet Secondary) who finished the game with 12. He made saves with his fingertips, chest, on 1-vs.-1 situations and while USC had the extra man; he also made a couple steals inside the goalmouth.
The fact that he shut out the nation's No. 2 team over the final 14:39 of the game should be praise enough, but White took the added step of saying he thinks Valics is one of the best goalkeepers playing in the United States.
"Bence is incredible and is definitely one of the best goalkeepers in the country," he said. "When we, as defenders, all do our job, he will block anything that is thrown at him."
Kocur also was impressed by Valics' performance, but shied away from heaping praise on any single individual.
"Everyone did their part tonight to give this club a chance to win a game against the nation's No. 2 team," he said. "And even though we were down 2-0 and 7-3, this young team never gave up."
Score 1 2 3 4 F
#10 Pepperdine (9-13) 3 0 2 1 6
#2 USC (21-2) 4 2 1 0 7
Goals
Pepperdine: Travis Gough (2), Tommy Briskey, Spencer Hamby, Stephen Loomis, Jake Schrimpf
USC: Peter Kurzeka (2), Matthew Burton, Forest Monroe, Mace Rapsey, Jeremy Davie, Stephen Siri
Saves
Pepperdine: Bence Valics (12)
USC: Joel Dennerley (8)
6-On-5 Opportunities
Pepperdine: 1/6
USC: 4/10
