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sports
49ers put away
Gauchos
By Ben Dimapindan
On-line Forty-Niner
After two tough
losses last week, Long Beach State men's water polo Coach
Rick Azevedo told his team that consistent execution meant
the difference between earning a victory and suffering a loss
against top-ranked competition.
The sixth-ranked
49ers, hearing their coach loud and clear, responded to the
call and executed nearly every play down a T with a dominating
10-5 road victory over No.10 UC Santa Barbara in a nonconference
match Sunday.
"It was senior
day [for UCSB]," Azevedo said. "They had their award
ceremony before the game, all the parents were there and the
[UCSB] players were clearly fired up.
"It was very
important to be ready. We established our game plan early
on, especially after the last few games, because now they
know how tough it is to when you start down in a hole."
LBSU (7-6) opened
the game with high intensity and wasted no time in setting
the tempo of the match.
The blitzing team
speed of The Beach stifled the UCSB offense, holding the Gauchos
(6-8) scoreless in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the 49ers
relied on that same quickness to pound in six unanswered goals,
two coming from junior Aaron Holloway, in the opening quarter.
"The big difference
today was that we came out in the first quarter and were basically
6-for-6 on offense. That's perfect execution," Azevedo
said.
In the second quarter,
the Gauchos rallied with a four-goal surge, highlighted by
a pair of goals from Amit Seker.
However, LBSU answered
back with three goals of its own in the second quarter, including
a score from senior Chris Segesman, who finished the game
with three goals.
In the second half,
the 49ers only managed to score once, but the LBSU defense,
led by senior goalie Brett Adolph, secured the win by holding
UCSB to just two second-half goals. Adolph finished the game
with six saves.
The 49ers return
to action Friday at 2 p.m. when the 49ers travel to UC Santa
Cruz for a nonconference match.
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