Water polo tean loses to Gauchos

Overmatched and shorthanded, the eighth-ranke d 49er water polo team lost its home opener to No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, 11-7, at Belmont Plaza Pool Saturday night.

The 49er roster was depleted by various maladies. Kip Parsons, a mainstay of last year's team, is out for the season after shoulder surgery. Jeff Rose, the team's leading scorer this season with 10 goals in four games, could also miss the rest of the season after sustaining a broken thumb in practice.

"I thought the guys sucked it up and played pretty well," said 49er coach Ken Lindgren. "But we defeated ourselves with too many turnovers and ejections. You can't force-feed experience."

The ejections were especially costly. They enabled the Gauchos to score four goals with a man advantage, including Nikola Ivanovic's third of the night early in the third period that stretched UCSB's lead to 6-2.

The 49ers would hang around for the duration of the second half, closing to within 10-7 on an Ian Taylor goal off a lob from Bill Peralta. When goalie Adam Lee came up with one of his six saves on the Gauchos' subsequent trip, 2:35 remained and it looked like the 49ers were poised for a comeback.

On the 49ers ensuing possession, however, Greg Finley was staring a scoring opportunity square in the face - and he blinked. When the freshman couldn't handle a pass in the crease, UCSB goalie Ryan McMillen retrieved it, initiating a break that culminated in Doug Wierenga's fifth goal of the match for the final margin.

"We never made the adjustment," Lindgren said of the 49ers' inability to stop Wierenga.

In spite of the loss, Lindgren sees a lot of potential in his team. "We've got a lot of young guys, so the future looks great," he said. "But I'm concerned about now. I think we can get some good wins this year.

"We'll see if we can plug a few more holes in the dike."

The 49ers will travel to Westwood, today, to play UCLA before hosting Pepperdine, Friday night.