The No. 6 Pepperdine Waves edged the No. 10 Long Beach State men’s water polo team, 8-7, in front of an overflowing crowd of 455 in a “Gold Game” Thursday night at the 49er Campus Pool.
Just two minutes into the fourth quarter, senior Ashley Blythen scored the final goal for LBSU, tying the game at 7. But, after a hard fought battle, J.P. MacDonell of Pepperdine scored the game-winning goal. With six seconds left, Jeff Greenwood made the steal to give LBSU possession but to no avail.
LBSU freshman Aleksander Petrovic stepped up huge when he scored two consecutive goals to tie up the game, 6-6.
The lead was reclaimed by the Waves with Matt Digges’ goal. The 49ers couldn’t convert on a 6-on-5 opportunity at the end of the third quarter.
Pepperdine’s Clayton Snyder scored within the first minute of the game, but it was the 49ers that controlled the first quarter. Blythen, who recorded his second hat trick of the season, scored two of his three goals in the first and Greenwood scored one of his two goals. LBSU took advantage of the 6-on-5, converting twice.
The Waves (15-5, 3-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) washed out the 49ers in the second quarter, holding them scoreless while tying the game, 3-3.
Pepperdine continued its run 40 seconds into the third quarter, taking the lead back for the first time since the first quarter.
LBSU (11-13, 0-4 MPSF) had a golden opportunity when Pepperdine’s goalie John Hahn was ejected, but the shot flew high. The run continued when a 5-meter shot was awarded to the Waves, and Adam Hewko muscled it past Derek Wiebe-Bailey to make the score, 5-3.
Greenwood answered back with a goal to take the 49ers within a one-goal reach. It didn’t last long in the back-and-forth action of scoring, as Pepperdine pulled ahead, 6-4.
The 49ers dropped to 0-4 in the conference, but Blythen believes “it’s not too late.”
“Win or lose tonight, it doesn’t change our ultimate goal [to compete in the MPSF tournament],” Blythen said.
Wiebe-Bailey agreed, saying, “We need MPSF wins … getting into the tournament [is still the goal]. That’s when we play 100 percent.”
LBSU returns to action on the road against UC Santa Barbara at noon on Saturday, Nov. 8