Men’s
water polo opens season with big wins
By Jack Schneider
On-line Forty-Niner
Getting
the new season off to an impressive start,
the sixth-ranked Long Beach State men’s
water polo team is 3-1 after competing in
the 2002 Navy Open in Annapolis, Md., over
the weekend.
On Sunday, the first game, which was against
Queens College, ended in a 10-9 victory
for LBSU.
 The
game lasted two overtimes with the score
deadlocked at 9-9, before the game moved
into sudden death. Junior David Del Grande
scored the winning goal with 2:32 remaining.
Also, Senior Kellyn Carlson added three
goals for The Beach.
In the second match of the day, the 49ers
fell behind 4-1 to St. Francis in the first
quarter and 8-4 at the half en route to
the only loss of the tournament for LBSU.
The only lead for Long Beach came in the
fourth quarter when Aaron Holloway scored
his third goal of the game to give the 49ers
a 9-8 lead. But with 28 seconds remaining,
St. Francis scored a timely goal to win
the game, 10-9.
In addition, Michael Konstas racked up 11
saves for The Beach.
On Saturday, LBSU opened the tournament
with an easy 16-3 win over Bucknell.
The 49ers were leading at the end of the
first quarter, 4-0, and 9-3 at the half,
before cruising to a big victory. LBSU junior
Nathan Allard was the game’s top player,
scoring five goals.
In Saturday’s second contest, the difference
between victory and defeat was decided in
the final seconds as The Beach edged Navy
7-6.
LBSU claimed its first lead when junior
Pat Logan scored in the fourth quarter with
less than fives minutes left on the game
clock. But with 43 seconds remaining, Navy’s
Pat Rolo fired a shot against The Beach
to make it a 6-6 tie.
However, in the final seconds of the game,
Holloway launched the final shot into Navy’s
goal, giving the 49ers a permanent lead.
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