49ers finish 7th at Stockton tournament

By John Caldwell
Daily Forty-Niner

The Long Beach State men's water polo team finished 7th with a four-game split at the Northern California Water Polo Tournament in Stockton, Calif., last weekend.

The 49ers (12-5) repeated the performance they exhibited in September's Southern California Water Polo Tournament in Irvine.

"I think the difference was we executed our system better," said junior Chris Segesman. "I think we did a good job."

The 49ers opened the tournament with a 9-7 win against UC Santa Barbara Saturday. Segesman had four goals, leading the 49ers to the victory.

The Beach followed that win with a 9-5 loss to USC in afternoon play. Head Coach Rick Azevedo said the score was not indicative of how hard his team played.

"It was some very well played games," Azevedo said. "We had to play a tough game in the morning, and then had to play USC."

Scott Miller and Aaron Holloway each scored two goals for the 49ers in the loss. Long Beach State beat USC 11-9 last week, and both teams are ranked No. 3 in this week's national poll.

Sunday's action opened with a loss for the Beach. For the second time in a week, the 49ers fell to No. 2-ranked UC Irvine 6-5 in overtime play, despite three goals by Segesman.

Anteater Jeff Dorffi scored in the second overtime to secure the win for Irvine.

"I thought the Irvine game was a game we should have won," Azevedo said. "It was still a good tournament all together."

The 49ers overcame that loss in the seventh-place game Sunday afternoon by defeating UC San Diego 5-2. Goalie Rob Smith had 11 saves for The Beach and Segesman notched two more goals in the win. The 49ers are 2-0 against the Tritons, having beaten them 11-6 on Oct. 14.

"It was just a so-so tournament," Segesman said. "It was really just for us to get better as a team."

The 49er's next game will be against UC Berkeley at 4 p.m. Friday at Campus Pool.