Pepperdine University
Pacific
Waves Fall to Pacific, But Hold #7 Seed
11/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
STOCKTON, Calif. - The No. 9 Pepperdine men's water polo team fell, 11-7, to No. 7 Pacific on Sunday afternoon, but thanks to a late penalty shot avoided the play-in game at next weekend's MPSF Tournament. Sunday was the final regular-season game for both teams.
Wesley Sherburne (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) hit the late penalty shot with just :04 seconds left in the game to make it a four-goal margin and give the Waves the #7 seed in the conference tournament by way of goal differential.
Pepperdine will play #2 seed Stanford at the conference tournament hosted by Long Beach State at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The Waves finish the regular season with a 10-13 overall record and 2-6 MPSF mark. Pacific closes 14-11, 2-6 MPSF.
The Waves were up 5-4 with just over three minutes left in the first half, but Pacific was able to score three goals before the half and take a 7-5 lead into the break. Another score for Pacific after halftime gave the Tigers a three-goal lead, but the Waves would answer with a strike to keep it a two-goal margin, 8-6, heading into the final period of play.
Needing a five-goal win to avoid the play-in game in the MPSF Tournament, the Tigers scored three straight and led 11-6 with less than a minute to play. On what looked to be their final possession the Waves drew an ejection and then after a delay of game call against Pacific, were awarded a penalty shot with just seconds left. Sherburne stepped up and nailed the foul try to make it 11-7. A long shot by Pacific went wide as time expired to end it.
Sherburne finished with a game-high four goals and three other Waves chipped in one each. Devon Thumwood finished with three for Pacific. Brady Moore had 14 saves for the Tigers and Zack Rhodes (Palm Desert, Calif./Palm Desert HS) posted 12 for Pepperdine.
No. 7 Pacific def. No. 9 Pepperdine, 11-7
PAC - 3 - 4 - 1 - 3 - 11
PEP - 3 - 2 - 1 - 1 - 7
PAC Scoring: Thumwood 3, Laczkovics 2, Stevenson 2, Ai 2, Reeves, Vogel
PEP Scoring: Sherburne 4, Liebhardt, Cowan, Hewko
PAC Saves: Moore 14
PEP Saves: Rhodes 12
