The No. 8 Long Beach State 49ers (8-11, 1-6) will host the No. 6 Lions of Loyola Marymount tonight at 7pm at the 49er Campus Pool. The game, the last home game of the season, will be the second meeting of the year between the two teams. LMU won the first game earlier this year, 9-5, and the 49ers will look to exact a measure of revenge against its cross-town rival tonight.
The match-up against the Lions will also be the last home game for five 49er seniors: Jeff Greenwood, Justin Koeppen, Kevin Mundia, Joe Sherrin and Derek Wiebe-Bailey. Greenwood, the 49ers second leading scorer, has 28 goals so far this season, and a career total of 173 goals ranking him fifth on the all-time 49er goals scored list and is one away from a tie for fourth with former 49er Jeff Colyer. Mundia, Koeppen, and Sherrin have also had solid senior seasons and are among the leading scorers for the 49ers with 14, 12, and six goals respectively. Wiebe-Bailey, one of the most decorated goalies in Long Beach State history, holds the 49er single-season record for saves with 282 and is currently fifth on the 49er all-time saves list with 520. Wiebe-Bailey needs 13 saves over the next two regular season games to finish his career third on the 49er all-time saves list.
The Beach went 0-2 last weekend, losing to No. 3 Stanford, 11-6, and, 13-7, to No. 2 Cal. Sophomore Alexsandr Petrovic, the 49ers leading scorer with 30 goals, led the 49ers in scoring against Stanford with three goals but was held out of the Cal match because of poke in the eye he received against the Cardinal.
Sophomore Matt Farrington was the 49er leading scorer against No. 2 Cal, with two goals and also scored a goal against Stanford bringing his season total to six. Freshman Brian Schiefer and Carter Taylor along with sophomores Shane Luth and Jordan Koeppen all scored goals for The Beach last weekend and provided a glimpse into the 49ers of the future.
Loyola (16-6) is ranked No. 6 by the Collegiate Water Polo Association and is currently undefeated in WWPA league play. The Lions are led by Tibor Forai and Edgaras Asajavicius who have scored 53 and 49 goals each for LMU. The Lions also have one of the nations leading goalkeepers in Andy Stevens who has a whopping 309 saves on the season.
Reports From LBSU