Season begins today on campus
By Tom Harshbarger
Daily Forty-Niner
A new era is set to begin for the Long
Beach State men’s water polo team.
The season officially begins today at
the Campus Pool against Loyola Marymount at 4 p.m. when Head Coach Ricardo
Azevedo steps in for his former coach and water polo legend Ken Lindgren.
President Robert Maxson said he is excited about the change.
"It's a very young team and I think we
have a very good young coach," Maxson said.
Perhaps the biggest challenge of the new
season will come as early as tomorrow as defending national champion USC
visits The Beach at 3 p.m. Friday,
Azevedo doesn’t seem worried, though.
"It's just another game," Azevedo said.
"This one is mostly for boasting rights."
Although the Trojans are a Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation team, this particular game is a non-conference contest.The
two teams will meet again in November during conference play.
While Thursday's opponent, the Loyola
Marymount Lions, is perhaps of a lower caliber than the Trojans, Azevedo
said he is not taking them lightly.
"Loyola's an up-and-coming program," Azevedo
said. "They work hard, so we approach that game the same way we do USC."
This season the 49ers will play some of
their home games at Belmont Plaza, located on Ocean Boulevard, as well
as at the Campus Pool.
"As a rule, student athletes like to play
on campus," Maxson said.
"Coaches and athletes like to play in front
of their peers. The trade-off is an Olympic-type pool vs. a campus environment."
The 49ers' scoring this year will most
likely come from seniors Corey Dolley and Patrick Cochran, as well as sophomore
Chris Segesman, Azevedo said.
Dolley and Segesman come from last year’s
squad, and Cochran is a transfer from the California Golden Bears water
polo team.
Next weekend the 49ers will travel to
USC to play in the Southern California Tournament. At some point, the 49ers
and Trojans will likely clash again in Los Angeles.
The MPSF consists of other aquatic powerhouses
such as UCLA, Stanford and Pepperdine.
In the USA water polo preseason poll, USC
is No. 1, followed by last year’s runner-up, Stanford, at No. 2. UCLA is
ranked at No. 3 and Pepperdine at No. 4.
UC Irvine, also an MPSF team, is ranked
No. 5. The 49ers are ranked No. 7, despite last year’s poor performance.
Eric Boyum contributed to this story. |
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