The No. 8 Long Beach State mens water polo team is no stranger to nail bitters, and they might get two more this weekend at home. The 49ers have been involved in seven games decided by just one goal, winning four of those contests, and they will face No. 11 UC San Diego for the second time this season Friday night at the 49er Campus Pool, 7pm. The Beach will then focus its attention on a the No. 4 UCLA Bruins, Sunday at 12pm.
LAST WEEKEND: The 49ers (7-8, 1-3) hosted MPSF rival No. 9 UCSB at the Campus Pool, where the 49ers are 2-1. Alexsandr Petrovic who had four goals and Justin Koeppen who had three goals led the Beach to an, 11-10, four overtime victory. Koeppen scored the Golden Goal with 1:53 remaining in the fourth overtime to propel The Beach to the victory. The 49ers fought back to tie the game with only 2:00 minutes left in regulation on a goal from Koeppen to send the game into overtime. MPSF leading goal scorer Milos Golic of UCSB scored a game-high six goals to lead the Gauchos.Derek Wiebe-Bailey had a game-high 13 saves for The Beach.
49ER FACTS: The Beach’s Jeff Greenwood and Alexsandr Petrovic rank 10 and 11 on the MPSF list of top goal scorers with 26 and 25 goals apiece. Greenwood, who scored the first goal of overtime vs. UCSB, is tied for fourth with Reid Tomasi on the 49er all-time goals scored list. Derek Wiebe-Bailey is having another outstanding season ranking third on the MPSF list for goalie saves averaging 8.73 per game.
SCOUTING UCSD: No. 8 Long Beach State will face the No. 11 Tritons of UC San Diego (11-11) Friday night at 7 p.m. The 49ers are 1-0 against UC San Diego this season, beating the Tritons 11-7 at the NorCal Tournament. The Tritons are on a two game win streak heading into Friday’s match-up and are led by Bryce Madsen and Peter Gresham who have scored 28 and 26 goals apiece.
SCOUTING UCLA: The No. 4 Bruins (16-5, 2-2) went 4-0 last week, earning victories against Loyola Marymount (10-5), UC Irvine (8-7), Pacific (11-7) and Chapman (15-7). UCLA is led by senior’s Scott Davidson who has scored 32 goals and goalie Chay Lapin who has a 123 saves for the season. UCLA beat Long Beach State, 16-6, in their last match-up at the UCI Invitational.Reports From LBSU