49er win streak hits six in a row

The Long Beach State men's water polo team stretched its winning streak to six in a row this weekend with wins over UC San Diego and the University of Massachusetts.

Both games were hard fought but it was the 7th-ranked 49ers' (9-3,1-0 MPSF) hard and fast strategy that would make the difference.

In Saturday's game against 5th ranked UC San Diego (16-3), The Beach scored six goals before the Tritons made it on the board with a goal from Kenny Woodruff in the second quarter.

Among scorers for The Beach was junior Bryce Felloney, who came off the bench to score two goals just 37 seconds apart in the second quarter.

As the game moved into the third quarter, San Diego closed the gap to 6-4, but The Beach rallied in the fourth with four goals in a row before time ran out in the 11-6 win.

Junior Justin Jewell led the team with three goals. Felloney, Pat Logan and Scott Miller followed Jewell with two goals each.

Single goal scorers were Chris Segesman and Nathan Allard, while junior Brett Adolph recorded eight saves in goal.

Prior to the victory over UC San Diego, Long Beach took on the University of Massachusetts (16-5) Friday.

"UMass is a quality team with good wins," said 49er Head Coach Rick Azevedo. "But we started very strong, which I think was the key to the whole game."

By the end of the first quarter The Beach led the Minutemen by a margin of 4-1.

As the game progressed the 49ers lead would never slip below two goals, and the game ended as a 9-5 win for the home team.

Leading scorers for The Beach were Allard and Jewell with three goals each.

Additional scorers included Segesman, Miller and Aaron Holloway with one goal each. In goal, senior Robert Smith made six saves for the 49ers.

Editor's Note: The men's water polo team defeated No. 2-ranked USC Sunday by a score of 11-9. For complete coverage, please see Tuesday's edition of the Daily Forty-Niner.