Nov. 25, 2010
MALIBU, Calif. - Earlier this Thanksgiving morning the No. 9 Pepperdine men's water polo team loaded up their busses in the Heritage Hall parking lot to mark the start of another exciting and eventful weekend road trip to the MPSF Championship.
This year's three-day, eight-team conference tournament is being hosted by Stanford University and the Waves (9-15, 1-7 MPSF) have the honor of playing in the very first match Friday at 10 a.m. against the No. 1 and top-seeded California Golden Bears (21-2, 8-0). Of those 21 wins, two were vs. the Waves and the Bears' only two losses were both by one goal to USC and UC Irvine; and that loss to the Anteaters was all the way back on Oct. 2.
While the challenge of facing Cal is the first-round is a daunting one, head coach Jack Kocur said all the pressure is on the Golden Bears and Pepperdine is going into their battle with nothing to lose.
"As a preseason No. 10 and eighth-seed in this championship, there's no pressure or expectations or anything else resting on our shoulders," he said. "Cal has everything to lose, because if they fall to us or someone else by the second day, they could be done for the year."
Although the Waves have plenty to think about right now as they wind up and over the grapevine on I-5, chances are they're not concentrating on Cal. The game is still 24 hours away and before they break west to Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center, they'll first be making a detour to Walnut Creek, Calif., and the Milcovich home for a massive Thanksgiving dinner.
Not only will all the players be seated around the house, but so will their coaches, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
"I think family is what makes our sport, and in particular, this championship weekend so unique," Kocur said. "It's a real thrill for everyone on the team to be surrounded by their loved ones as we get ready to compete in our most crucial games of the season. I look forward to going around the table and hearing players say what they're thankful for, and having them focused on the bigger picture rather than water polo."
The meal, however, won't be an all-day affair like it is for most families since the Waves will be called to a late afternoon practice back at the Stanford pool. Kocur won't go into detail about what they're working on or what strategies they're devising, but again repeated that everyone on his roster needs to be on the same page and performing at their highest possible level.
He also added that he believes a number of his guys are due to have career days this weekend.
Some guys like sophomore Danny White (Oxnard, Calif./Rio Mesa HS) and redshirt junior Travis Gough (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad HS) have been a scoring threat from day one, and the stat sheets reflect that as White is among the MPSF leaders with 32 goals and an average of 1.45 per game, while Gough is among the team leaders with 24 goals, 28 assists and 32 steals.
Junior Nate Castillo (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) also has been near the top of the team's leader board for much of the season, contributing 23 goals and 28 assists.
But the guys perhaps to keep a closer eye on are the ones who have had strong showings over the last few games, guys like junior Rex Learmouth (Orange, Calif./Villa Park HS) and sophomore Stephen Loomis (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo HS).
Learmouth poured in a game-high four goals vs. No. 3 UCLA two weeks ago to raise his season to 14, and Loomis posted his second three-goal game of the year last Saturday vs. UC Santa Barbara.
And of course, no opposing attacker can afford to look past freshman goalkeeper Bence Valics (Eger, Hungary/Szilagyi Erzsebet Secondary) who at times has made some of the most improbable saves look effortless. He enters this weekend ranked third in the MPSF with 8.00 saves per game average, and has registered double-digit save totals in four of his last six starts.
Cal will be led on offense by junior MPSF scoring leader Ivan Rackov (65 goals) and senior Zach White (47). In the cage will be sophomore Justin Parsons, who owns the MPSF's third-best GAA at 6.90.
For more information on the MPSF Championship, including a complete schedule and listing of teams go to mpsports.org.
