Pepperdine University
Air Force
No. 12 Pepperdine Splits Pair of Games at SoCal Tournament
10/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The No. 12 Pepperdine men's water polo team split its two games on the first day of the SoCal Tournament hosted by UCLA on Saturday.
The Waves dropped their opener, 11-7, against No. 6 UC Santa Barbara before bouncing back with a 12-8 win over No. 15 Air Force in the late game.
The Waves and Falcons came out of the gates firing in the afternoon game, combining for 15 goals in the first half as Pepperdine took an 8-7 lead into the break. A Thomas Patten (Newport Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) goal for the Waves with :32 seconds left in the half would break the tie.
As scoring quieted down in the second half, Pepperdine grabbed a 9-7 lead in the third quarter, but a goal by the Falcons with :22 seconds on the clock made it a one goal game heading to the fourth. Wesley Sherburne (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) and Jake Schrimpf (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) scored back-to-back goals in the fourth to give the Waves an 11-8 lead and control of the game with 1:34 to play. Schrimpf would add one more score in the four-goal win.
Sherburne finished with a season-high five goals in the game and Luke Hewko (Irvine, Calif./Servite HS) had four for the Waves. Zack Rhodes (Palm Desert, Calif./Palm Desert HS) also set a season-high with 13 saves in the contest.
The Waves fell in the opener to UC Santa Barbara despite scoring four fourth-quarter goals. Pepperdine trailed 9-3 heading to the fourth and fell behind 11-4 after two early goals by the Gauchos.
Brock Liebhardt (Fremont, Calif./Washington HS) scored back-to-back goals to pull the Waves within five with 3:37 to play. Pepperdine couldn't keep the momentum going, though, only getting one more goal on a penalty shot by Charles Olsen (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica HS) at the 1:22 mark.
Hewko and Kenneth Keller (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos HS) scored the Waves' only first-half goals as the team scored its other five in the second half. Keller and Liebhardt each finished with a pair of scores.
Pepperdine drew 18 ejections in the match, converting on three of the man-advantage opportunities. UCSB drew 13 ejections and converted on five. Seven different players scored for the Gauchos.
The split moves Pepperdine's record to 7-7 on the year. The Waves will play No. 10 UC Irvine at 10:50 a.m. tomorrow as the SoCal Tournament continues.
UC Santa Barbara def. Pepperdine, 11-7
UCSB - 3 - 3 - 3 - 2
PEP - 2 - 0 - 1 - 4
UCSB Scoring: Cappon 2, McElroy 2, Hauschild 2, Racich 2, Alkateb, Jensen, Yates
PEP Scoring: Keller 2, Liebhardt 2, Hewko, Olsen, Beck
UCSB Saves: Whitelegge 5, Lenihan 3
PEP Saves: Rhodes 8
Pepperdine def. Air Force, 12-8
AF - 4 - 3 - 1 - 0
PEP - 5 - 3 - 1 - 3
AF Scoring: Stiefel 2, Thomas 2, Johnson, Curia, Rogers, Vicino
PEP Scoring: Sherburne 5, Hewko 4, Schrimpf 3
AF Saves: Guarino 8, Benson 5
PEP Saves: Rhodes 13
