NCAA Men’s Water Polo: Pepperdine Upsets #2 UCLA, 7-6

WESTWOOD, October 12. IT doesn't get any better than this — unless, of course, you're UCLA men's water polo coach Adam Krikorian.

In a heart-stopping match that lasted nearly two hours before an overflow crowd at UCLA's Sunset Canyon Rec Center Pool here this afternoon, Pepperdine senior driver William Rodriguez scored his only goal with 1:36 remaining in the fourth overtime period to lead sixth-ranked Pepperdine over the second-ranked Bruins, 7-6, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match-up.

With the win, Pepperdine, which two weeks ago beat defending NCAA champ Stanford at Malibu to deal the Cardinal its then initial loss of the season, improves to 7-5 overall, 2-0 in MPSF action.

UCLA, which won badck-to-back NCAA titles in 1999 and
'00 and was runner-up last season, falls to 7-4 overall, 0-2 in MPSF play.

The Bruins struck first on a Michael March goal after a mere 39 seconds of the first quarter. However, the Wave attack responded with two goals in the quarter.

The second-period see-sawed back and forth, with both teams adding two goals to their totals. Heading into halftime, Pepperdine led 4-3.

UCLA dominated the third quarter with three unanswered goals, including a penalty shot goal by sophomore driver Brett Ormsby. Goalkeeper Brandon Brooks shut out the Waves in the third and recorded four of his 16 saves in the period.

Wave junior driver Scott Harvey scored with 2:10 remaining in regulation to edge Pepperdine within one score of the Bruins. With only 0:28 left in the game, Harvey struck again to even the score at 6-6 and send the match into overtime.

Sophomore center Ted Peck, Ormsby, and March each scored twice for the Bruins while Brooks matched his career-high 16 saves from last weekend's win over USC in the Nor-Cal Tournament Championship.

Harvey led the Waves with a hat trick. Karl Niehaus scored two. Michael Hausmann added a score for the Waves. Goalkeeper Michael Soltis recorded ten saves in the contest.

UCLA returns to action this afternoon with a noon (PDT) match at Sunset Recreation Canyon Center against Loyola Marymount.

— Bill Bell

BOX SCORE SCORE BY QUARTERS

1-2-3-4-OT=Final

No. 6 Pepperdine 2-2-0-2-1=7
No. 2 UCLA 1-2-3-0-0=6

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