49ers
finish 7th in MPSF
By Jack Schneider
On-line Forty-Niner
It
was a weekend of strength and power for
the Long Beach State men’s water polo team
as it finished seventh at the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation Championships, held at
Loyola Marymount this past weekend.
 On
Sunday, the 49ers defeated the University
of the Pacific 9-8 in overtime, claiming
sole possession of seventh overall.
The Beach took control of the first half
as senior team captain Aaron Holloway scored
a pair of goals, boosting the lead to 4-1.
Sophomore Erik Geoffroy and junior Jason
Palda also scored two apiece.
In the fourth quarter, the Tigers finally
caught the 49ers at 8-8.
However, LBSU junior Nathan Allard came
through with clutch goal at the 2:20 mark
in overtime to seal the victory for the
49ers.
Goalie freshman Thomas Onyshko racked up
14 career-high saves.
On Saturday, The Beach faced USC, but fell
in a close game, with a score of 10-8, in
favor of the Trojans.
Scoring three consecutive goals in the fourth
quarter, USC overtook the game’s momentum
and seized 6-5 advantage.
The Beach mounted a strong comeback against
the Trojans as LBSU’s Holloway scored his
first goal in the fourth quarter, then another
shot fired in by freshman Brad Scoles.
Holloway was able to hurl in his second
shot of the day at the late in the fourth,
cutting away at the Trojans’ lead, but Gadi
Hadar found the back of the net with less
than a minute remaining to preserve the
win for USC.
Onyshko tallied eight saves, and Geoffroy
led The Beach with five goals.
In the second of to games on Friday, the
49ers were washed up by the Pepperdine Waves,
11-9.
This game included six lead changes and
nine ties. Pepperdine’s Jeremy Grubs scored
at the 5:37 mark of the fourth quarter,
while teammate Jesse Smith scored with under
two minutes to play, to lead the Waves to
victory.
Both Geoffroy and Holloway scored two goals
for the game.
In Friday’s opening game for The Beach,
the 49ers surged ahead to a two-goal lead
in the first quarter and never looked back
— defeating UC Santa Barbara, 8-5.
LBSU never trailed in the game and dominated
from the outset. Geoffroy scored four
goals, while Onyshko anchored the defense
with eight saves, to lead The Beach to a
smooth win.
In
the season overall, Holloway scored 123
career goals placing him in 10th place in
the 49ers men’s water polo list. Geoffory
finished the season with 69 goals, making
him the fourth-best all-time on the 49er
single season chart.
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