49ers split games in weekend action

By Jeff Dusing
Daily Forty-Niner

The men's water polo finished with a win and a loss in back-to-back league games Friday and Saturday.

The 49ers (13-7 overall, 3-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) fought hard Saturday to win a game against UC, Santa Barbara (6-13, 1-5), 9-8, in double overtime. The victory was largely due to team captain Chris Segesman, who tallied six goals in the game, including the only goal in the second period of overtime.

"Santa Barbara is a difficult place to win and I think the kids did a great job," Head Coach Rick Azevedo said.

Also adding to the 49ers' victory, according to Azevedo, was Nathan Allard, who drew several ejections which gave The Beach greater opportunities to score.

The game was very close the whole way through, with neither side leading for any length of time. The Beach's victory was made harder by Gaucho goalie Trevor Spence's 11 saves. Despite their efforts, the Gaucho players were unable to hold out against LBSU.

The win bumped the 49ers' record against Santa Barbara to 4-0 on the season.

Also scoring for LBSU were Allard with two goals and Aaron Holloway with one. Brett Adolph helped out in goal with eight saves.

"It was a very good game, after yesterday where we didn't play that well and things didn't go our way," Azevedo said. "I thought it was a nice gut check for the guys to come back and play as hard as they did."

Prior to Saturday's game, The Beach went up against UC Berkeley (9-7, 2-2). In the third MPSF game of the season, the 49ers were unable to take the win.

"We made too many mistakes," Azevedo said. "We had opportunities that we didn't put away, including some breakaway shots. We just didn't play like we know how to."

After the first period, the Bears led by one goal. Both teams tallied three times in the second period to bring the score to 5-4, with Berkeley leading at the end of the half.

Unfortunately for the 49ers, the second half proved to be much different as the team was outscored by the Bears, 6-3, and the game ended as an 11-6 win for Berkeley.