49er win streak ends in overtime loss to Irvine

By Jeff Dusing
Daily Forty-Niner

IRVINE -- A seven game winning streak for the men's water polo team came to an end Tuesday as the 49ers fell to second ranked UC Irvine by one goal in overtime in a non-conference match.

"It was a very well played game," said Head Coach Rick Azevedo. "Irvine played with a lot of heart, they played very well and they deserve to win."

The first goal would be scored by UCI's Dan Hayes with 46 seconds remaining in the first period. At the end of the period it would be the only goal on the board.

As The Beach (10-4, 2-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) came out in the second period, their intentions were clear as they scored three unanswered goals.

The first goal came from 49er Nathan Allard with 5:42 left on the clock. Juniors Aaron Holloway and Bryce Felloney would follow, making the score 3-1 for LBSU. This would be the only time either team led by more than one goal.

The Anteaters would not rest long as they were able to tally again before the period ended, bringing the score to 3-2 at the half.

Moving into the second half, UCI was able to score twice in the first minutes of the third period. Anteater Jeff Powers would score a total of six times in the game. Meanwhile 49er Justin Jewell, one of the teams highest scorers, would be held scoreless throughout the game.

Throughout the second half, both teams would battle back and forth each gaining the lead for only a short time. Then with only 1:21 remaining in the game, Long Beach would score while Irvine was a man down due to an ejection.

As the game moved into overtime, LBSU junior Scott Miller would be the first to score bringing The Beach into the lead 9-8. No more goals would be scored before the end of the first overtime period.

At 1:01 into the second period of overtime, UCI would tally once again bring the game back to a tie. With the game even and only 1:32 remaining, 49er Chris Segesman was served with an ejection.

Anteater Jeff Powers would then score his sixth and last goal of the game, moving UCI into the lead 10-9. Despite their efforts, The Beach was unable to come back from the deficit.

"We made three key mistakes in the last minute and a half. You have to execute your offense and we did not do that," Azevedo said.

After the game, the very emotional 49ers held their head's high and instantly began to look to their next game.

"I have a lot of emotions about the game," said Chris Segesman, team captain. "We had the game won. We'll see who wins this weekend. That's all our goal is for now, is to win this tournament."

Smiling proudly after the game, Azevedo said that he was very happy with the way his team had played.

"These types of games make it fun at the end of the year, because we'll remember it when we play them again," Azevedo said.

Scorers for The Beach included Chris Segesman, Aaron Holloway, Nathan Allard, and Scott Miller, each with two goals. Bryce Felloney also scored a goal. The entire team was backed up by goalie Brett Adolph who had nine saves.