click logo for homepage
 
 

	Vol.7, No 52, November 30, 1999
	Men's water polo team drowned at MPSF tournament; finishes seventh  By Tom Harshbarger Daily Forty-Niner  IRVINE--Ending a disappointing weekend on a positive note, the Long Beach State men's water polo team routed Pepperdine, 17-12, to capture seventh place Sunday in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament at UCI.   WATERPOLO The fifth-seeded 49ers succumbed to No. 4 California, 8-6, in the first round and No. 8 UC Santa Barbara, 6-5, in overtime in the second. In the seven-year history of the tournament, the 49ers have never finished better than seventh.  LBSU Head Coach Ricardo Azevedo attributed his team's poor showing on the inability to execute in important games. "We haven't been under pressure enough times," Azevedo said. "You have to play championship games. I don't think we got ourselves into that kind of  position enough times, and when we would go into the fourth quarter tied with a USC or UCLA, we'd become tentative." Nursing a 7-5 lead against the seventh-seeded Waves at halftime, the 49ers exploded in the third, outscoring their opponents 6-1. Corey Dolley scored three goals in the period, including a two-pointer, and four overall. Three more goals in the fourth gave them some insurance and allowed Azevedo to pull the starters. Chris Segesman also scored four goals for LBSU. Greg Lonzo led the Waves' attack with four goals, including a pair of two-pointers, accounting for half of Pepperdine's 12 points. On Friday Cal took the lead in the first quarter and never relinquished it, thanks to goalie Kevin Ahasey's 16 saves and LBSU's inability to score with a one-man advantage. The 49ers converted only three times in 10 six-on-five opportunities.  The loss dashed LBSU's hopes of winning the conference and making the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Bears went on to take third place "We really wanted to win that game," senior Patrick Cochran said. "Since we didn't, we came out really flat against Santa Barbara." LBSU's flatness showed Saturday against UCSB, a team that usually doesn't give the 49ers a problem. Each team scored only one goal apiece in each of the first three quarters and two apiece in the fourth. The Gauchos' Tom Coughlan scored the game-winning goal early in the first half of overtime, and the 49ers never answered with any scores of their own. Dolley led the 49ers with three goals. Coughlan led all scorers with four. Sunday's contest was the last collegiat came for Cochran as well as seniors Dolley and Shane Lindstrom.		LBSU 6th in nation   CSU budget to pass $244 million due to enrollment Surf makes you ill   Many reasons to be thankful   Pokemon won't have long run Electronic band scores with sound Men's water polo team drowned at MPSF tournament; finishes seventh   Men's hoops struggles Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.