49ers split weekend road games

The men's water polo team ended a weekend road trip to Northern California with an even record after winning at Stanford Saturday and then losing at the University of the Pacific Sunday.

The game against ninth-ranked Pacific was preceded with a number of awards and presentations for the home team (11-12 overall, 2-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation). Meanwhile, The Beach (14-10, 4-4) was still high off its victory over Stanford the day before, 49er Head Coach Rick Azevedo said.

 "We should have won the game easily," Azevedo said. "We didn't play very well."

As the game began, the Tigers got off to a quick start by jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Most of the game's excitement came in the second half as The Beach started its comeback in the third period, outscoring UOP 3-0. With 2:22 to go, 49er Justin Jewell scored the 49ers' last goal of the game.

Despite the 49ers' efforts, UOP sophomore Eddie Wisniewski scored with 2:25 left in the game to bring the final score to 6-4 in favor of the Tigers.

The 49ers' top scorer was Nathan Allard with two goals.

 "Nathan Allard is probably our hottest player right now," Azevedo said. "If he is not the premier 2-meter man in the country, he is the second best and he's only a freshman."

Additional scorers for The Beach were Scott Miller and Jewell. The 49ers received assistance in goal from junior Brett Adolph who had six saves.

 "The big win was Saturday," Azevedo said. "That's the one we need for Mount Pacific."

As the highlight of its weekend, the 49ers rolled over the Stanford Cardinals (10-11, 2-6) for an 11-8 victory.

 "We said we wanted to knock down all the teams we haven't beaten in 10 years and Stanford is obviously one of them," Azevedo said.

The game opened with a charge from the Cardinals as the team built a 4-1 lead by the end of the first period. Despite the deficit, Long Beach fought its way back to tie the game 5-5 at the half.

Team captain Chris Segesman led the charge in the second half, scoring three goals for The Beach, which amassed a 10-5 lead that held until late in the fourth period.

Stanford returned with a three-goal run late in the fourth, but 49er Scott Miller would be the last to score bringing the final count to 11-8.

 "The boys did extremely well," Azevedo said. "It was a game that we had to win."

Azevedo added that it was also a great team victory as shown by the high number of players that scored.

Scoring for The Beach was lead by Segesman with three, followed closely by Aaron Holloway and Jewell with two goals a piece and Bryce Felloney, Miller, Allard and Pat Logan each with a single goal.

The 49ers received outstanding support in goal from senior goalie Rob Smith with 11 saves.

The 49ers will be back in action Friday as the team travels to Pepperdine for the last game of the regular season.

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