It was good news/bad news again for the no. 8 Long Beach State 49ers (6-6), as they completed play in the UCI Invitational Sunday, first pulling off an upset by defeating No. 6 UC Santa Barbara (8-5), but later falling in sudden death overtime to No. 7 Pepperdine (7-7), to place sixth overall.
In the first game, Jordan Koeppen scored a season-high four goals while Jeff Greenwood and Carter Taylor added two goals each to lead the 49ers in a 10-9 upset over the sixth-ranked Gauchos.
The Beach trailed for much of the first half falling behind 7-5 at halftime before taking control in the third period. The 49ers outscored the Gauchos 3-1 in the third period to tie the score at 8-8 going into the final period.
Derek Wiebe-Bailey led the 49ers defensively shutting down the Gauchos with seven saves and allowing just two goals in the second-half.
Taylor scored what proved to the game-winning goal with 1:51 left in the fourth quarter to secure the 49ers victory. Taylor‘s goal gave the 49ers a 10-8 lead before the Gauchos’ leading scorer, Milos Golic, scored his fourth goal of the game with 1:35 remaining.
The morning win against UCSB led the 49ers into a match-up against the No. 7 Waves of Pepperdine for fifth place. Jeff Greenwood, who had 10 goals over the two-day tournament, scored three goals and Alexsandar Petrovic added two goals to lead the 49ers in a 12-11 loss in the fifth-place game of the UCI Invitational at Anteater Pool.
The Beach’s Brian Schiefer sent the game to overtime with a goal at the 1:41 mark of the fourth quarter, tying the contest at 10-10. Greenwood scored his third goal of the afternoon on a power play with 2:16 left in the first overtime period to give Long Beach State an 11-10 lead.
The Waves Andrew Milcovich scored with 26 seconds remaining in the second overtime session to draw Pepperdine even at 11-11, setting up the win 45 seconds into sudden-victory overtime on a goal by Clayton Snyder.
The Waves J.P. MacDonell led all scorers with four goals. Goalie Derek Wiebe-Bailey had 10 saves for the 49ers.
With wins over No. 17 Navy and No. 6 UCSB in the UCI Invitational, the 49ers finished in sixth place overall. Those who placed ahead of The Beach in the tournament also happen to be the top five teams ranked in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s national poll.
After a week of rest, the 49ers will be back in Irvine to face the No. 9 Anteaters of UC Irvine. That game is scheduled to take place Thursday, October 15th at the Anteater Pool at 7p.m. PT.
Long Beach State 10, UC Santa Barbara 9
Long Beach State 4 – 1 – 3 – 2 — 10
UC Santa Barbara 5 – 2 – 1 – 1 — 9
Fifth-Place Game
Pepperdine 12, Long Beach State 11 (SVOT)
Long Beach State 4 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 1 – 0 – 0 — 11
Pepperdine 3 – 2 – 4 – 1 – 0 – 1 – 1 — 12
From LBSU reports