49ers finish seventh at MPSF

By Jeff Dusing
Daily Forty-Niner

LOS ALAMITOS – The Long Beach State men's water polo team placed seventh in the three- day Mount Pacific Sports Federation Tournament held over  Thanksgiving weekend.

The tournament, at USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center on the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, marked the end of the season for the 49ers.

Despite its winning season, fifth-seeded LBSU (15-13) was disappointed with its showing at the MPSF Championships.
 
"I'm not pleased with how we played in this tournament," 49er Head Coach Rick Azevedo said.

The tournament opened with an emotional loss to fourth seeded Cal Berkeley (10-6) that would set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

The 10-6 defeat, which crushed the team's chances of making the NCAA Tournament, came after a brutal game that had many in the crowd questioning the officials.

As the game began, Cal (10-6) came out fast, scoring a 5-2 lead by the end of the first period. As the game progressed, however, The Beach was unable to close the game to less than two goals.

The physical aspect of the game came to a peak when emotions erupted with just  minutes remaining as players rushed to the center of the pool in what was to be a bench-clearing brawl. As players pushed each other about and words were exchanged, coaches and officials fought to keep the peace. After a few minutes of aggression, each team returned to its side without a single punch being thrown.

"I love this team; it's the greatest," said senior goalie Rob Smith. "In my junior college years we won a championship and nothing can beat being No. 1 and holding that finger up to say so. But, with this team, I don't need that. That fight, right there, proved how much love we have for each other and how much we appreciate each other's company."

After four more minutes of feverish play, The Beach was unable to pull off the win.

The team returned to the pool Saturday to play eighth-seeded Stanford (13-13) but suffered a 9-2 loss to the much more physical team.

"The execution wasn't at its best," Azevedo said. "They stuck in there. I think they showed a lot of class and they just played hard and that's all I can expect."

The loss came after goalie Brett Adolph was ejected for the rest of the game for sinking the goal. Adolph, who was left bleeding from a cut on his nose, sunk the goal to prevent a shot. This came after an official failed to call a penalty on an offensive player as he stole the ball.

"It was supposed to be a four-meter [penalty shot] and I would have blocked it," said Adolph regarding his reasons for his actions. "Never give up, that's our team motto."

Adolph's ejection had little affect on the final score as Stanford (13-13) had already scored four goals by the time of the incident.

As the team returned for the final day of the tournament, Sunday would prove to be their day with a 12-6 victory over seventh-seeded University of the Pacific to secure seventh place in the tournament.

"At least today [Sunday] the guys game back and played with some more heart," Azevedo said. "I'm still real proud of them."

In their only victory, The Beach got an early scare as the Tigers came out to an early lead scoring the first goal just 38 seconds into the game. The team's lead would not last long as the 49ers came back to tie just 30 seconds later.

From then on it was all Long Beach as junior Aaron Holloway scored from the right with 4:42 remaining in the first to push The Beach into the lead. Holloway's goal would also be the first of a three-goal run from LBSU.   "[The victory] gives us something to remember, looking back over then next nine months," said freshman Nathan Allard.

"We had a great season," Azevedo said. "It was the winningest season we've had in many years. Scoring was great, we had six guys in double figures."

Now with one of the best seasons in recent Long Beach history, the team is excited about the year to come.

"Next season starts Tuesday," Azevedo said with a smile as he pointed out that with only a few players leaving, next year will be a strong year for the team.