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sports
Water polo golden
against Bears
By Ben Dimapindan
On-line Forty-Niner
The Long Beach
State men's water polo team experienced firsthand Saturday
just how much fun the lucky number seven can be.
After suffering
six straight losses to the University of California, the visiting
49ers defeated the fifth-ranked Golden Bears for the first
time in seven tries in a 7-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
victory.
"Cal is a
team that we struggle against, so I told the guys that we've
really been playing well lately and have been practicing well
this past week, so now is the time to play as a team,"
LBSU Head Coach Rick Azevedo said. "And that's what they
did -- they went out and got the job done."
The first quarter
ended in a 1-1 draw, then sixth-ranked LBSU (9-6, 2-4 MSPF)
kicked the offensive intensity into high gear.
Falling behind
3-2 midway through the second quarter, The Beach outscored
Cal, 4-1, over the next two quarters to seize a three-goal
lead.
Senior driver Justin
Jewell scored a pair of goals in less than a minute during
the second quarter to put LBSU ahead for the first time in
the game.
In the third quarter,
The Beach continued its sharp shooting. Sophomore two-meter
man Nathan Allard and senior two-meter man Chris Segesman
both found the back of the net, giving the 49ers a 6-3 advantage.
The Golden Bears
(10-5, 3-4 MSPF) tried to rally back, but could only close
the gap to 6-4 as their overall team shooting was troubled
all game long by inaccuracy and the stifling defense of LBSU
senior goaltender Brett Adolph.
While Cal shot
an inefficient 5-of-24 in the contest, Adolph recorded a game-high
11 saves and secured a 7-5 win for The Beach.
In addition, LBSU
defeated UC Santa Cruz 15-4 in a nonconference road game Friday.
The 49ers return
to action in a MSPF match against host UC Irvine Tuesday at
7 p.m.
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