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sports:
women's water polo
LBSU places fifth
in tournament
By Jeff Dusing
On-line Forty-Niner
Long Beach State
women's water polo earned their keep this weekend as they
placed fifth at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational tournament.
The fifth place
finish came after tough games against UC Davis, San Jose State,
Stanford, and a final game against host team UC Santa Barbara.
The tournament
began as the 49ers (6-3 overall, 0-1 Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation) started its weekend with a 10-8 win over UC Davis
(5-5).
Largely responsible
for the win was freshman Angelica Garcia who scored five goals,
followed by sophomore Ashley Richardson with two.
Throughout the
game, UC Davis refused to concede as it kept The Beach's lead
to a minimum. With a 6-5 lead at the half, the 49ers came
out fighting in the 3rd to stretch the score to 8-5 before
they would end the game with a 10-8 final score.
Following its victory
over UC Davis, LBSU suffered a difficult defeat against tough
rival Stanford. The 9-1 loss would crush any hope The Beach
had of winning top honors for the weekend. Senior Lisa Helm
scored the only LBSU goal in the fourth quarter.
As the 49ers returned
to play on Sunday, it was clear the team was all business.
In the third round
LBSU faced San Jose State where they successfully came from
behind to win in overtime.
With a 4-2 deficit
at the half, The Beach, led by Richardson, came back to tie
the game at 6-6 just as the game clock expired.
Moving into overtime,
LBSU took no prisoners as they outscored the Spartans 3-1.
The final score was 9-7.
Richardson led
with three goals followed by Garcia with two. The win would
enable the team to move into the final game to determine who
would place fifth in the tournament.
Hungry for that
fifth place finish, The Beach would have to get past the host
team UC Santa Barbara (5-6).
From the start,
the 49ers made its intentions known as they outscored the
Gauchos 3-1 in the first quarter. Coming back in the second
quarter, both teams would go scoreless until the second half.
As LBSU returned
for the third quarter, it began to stretch its lead, extending
the score to 6-2. In the final quarter the 49ers took advantage
of its lofty lead as the Gauchos scored two goals while The
Beach netted only one.
The final score
for the game was 7-4 as the 49ers secured its fifth place
finish.
Garcia finished
the tournament with eight goals followed by Richardson with
six.
The finish, along
with their overall standing for the season, is the best The
Beach has had in the four years of its women's water polo
program.
The Beach will
return home to play Michigan at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the Campus
Pool.
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