BERKELEY, CA., November 9. PEPPERDINE senior two-meter man Karl Niehaus scored three goals and helped lead his No. 5 ranked Waves to a stunning 8-5 road win over top-ranked California in a key Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game here today.<\/p>\n
The match was played Saturday morning at Cal's Spieker Aquatics Complex.<\/p>\n
Cal defeated top-ranked Stanford last weekend at Stanford to claim the nation's No. 1 ranking. <\/p>\n
The Waves, 13-7 overall and 7-1 in MPSF play, have now clinched the regular-season conference title with the victory and will be top-seeded at the nine-team league tournament. The tourney is scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend in Los Alamitos, CA. <\/p>\n
The Wave win marked the second time this season that Pepperdine has beaten the nation's top-ranked team, as it also holds a win over Stanford from last month in Malibu.<\/p>\n
California falls to 15-5 overall, 4-3 in MPSF play. The Golden Bears had moved to the top spot in the ranking after notching a 9-8 road win last weekend at Stanford.<\/p>\n
Pepperdine last won the regular season MPSF crown in 1997. The Waves also went on to win the NCAA title that season — their first and only — so Pepperdine coach Terry Schroeder is hoping history repeats itself!<\/p>\n
The MPSF Tournament champion gets an automatic entry into the four-team NCAA Championships the following weeked at Loyola. The finals' loser may also be included but is not guaranteed a spot. <\/p>\n
Today's extremely physical contest included game ejections to California's Chris Lathrop and Greg Panawek along with Golden Bear head coach Kirk Everist.<\/p>\n
Hampered throughout the season by slow starts, the Waves jumped out to a 3-0 lead to seize control of the contest. Pepperdine held a 4-1 advantage at intermission.<\/p>\n
Junior driver Scott Harvey's goal at the 3:30 mark of the third quarter pushed the Waves' lead to 5-2. Junior driver Will Quist scored 90 seconds later to pull the Golden Bears within a 5-3 count heading into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Attila Banhidy, California's leading scorer, connected on a four-meter penalty shot with 5:11 left in the game to help California close the gap to a 5-4 margin.<\/p>\n
Niehaus scored his second goal of the game with 2:34 left to give Pepperdine a two-goal cushion, and sophomore driver Jordan Keitel found the back of the net with 1:58 to play to give Pepperdine a decisive 7-4 advantage.<\/p>\n
Senior goalie Michael Soltis continued his solid play in the net for Pepperdine, registering 11 saves.<\/p>\n
Pepperdine completes its two-game road trip today with a noon non-conference game at No. 8 Pacific.<\/p>\n
The Waves complete their regular season schedule with two home games next week at their home Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. Pepperdine will host No. 7 Loyola Marymount next Wednesday (Nov. 13) at 2 PM before battling No. 9 Long Beach State next Saturday, Nov. 16 beginning at noon.<\/p>\n
— Bill Bell<\/p>\n
BOX SCORE<\/p>\n
Pepperdine 2 2 1 3 — 8
\nCalifornia 0 1 2 2 — 5<\/p>\n
Pepperdine Scoring:
\nKarl Niehaus (3), Jeremy Grubbs (1), Scott Harvey (1), Michael Hausmann (1), Jordan Keitel (1), Jesse Smith (1)<\/p>\n
California Scoring:
\nWill Quist (2), Attila Banhidy (1), Vince Bevins (1), Andrew Stoddard (1)<\/p>\n
Pepperdine Goalkeeping:
\nMichael Soltis; 11 saves and 5 goals allowed.<\/p>\n
California Goalkeeping:
\nRussell Bernstein; 7 saves and 8 goals allowed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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