H2O
polo wins first tournament
By Toby Lewis
On-line Forty-Niner
Long
Beach State Women’s water polo earned the
team’s first ever tournament title at the
University of California San Diego tournament
in San Diego over the weekend.
 No.
4 ranked Long Beach State was declared the
winner by virtue of number of goals scored
in a close competition with No. 6 ranked
Loyola-Marymount and No. 7 ranked San Diego
State.
“It was a nice way to start the season,”
Head Coach Rick Azevedo said. “Any time
you start the season, you never know.”
The three teams went against each other
in a round robin fashion scoring identical
goal differentials Sunday.
“I felt really confident with the team,”
Azevedo said. “They handled some adversity.”
The Beach scored a total of 34 goals in
the final games, giving Long Beach State
its first ever tournament title.
Sophomore Drue Wawrzynski led the Beach
with four goals in the final match against
San Diego State after coming from behind
4-1 at the half sending the game into overtime.
A win would have given The Beach an outright
tournament victory, but the match was ultimately
decided by San Diego State senior Casey
Finnegan scoring a goal in the second sudden
death with 1:44 to play.
“It was a shot that nine times out of ten
our goalie would have made the block, but
this time she didn’t,” Azevedo said.
Long Beach State was forced to play without
second leading scorer Angelica Garcia due
to an injury she sustained in the Loyola
Marymount game, Azevedo said.
Freshmen Cassie Azevedo led the 49ers with
six goals helping The Beach go undefeated
on the first day of the tournament.
Other top scorers for the Beach included
Roberta Stewart with a total of seven goals,
Drue Wawrzynski with six goals and Alison
Braden with three goals in the two-day tournament.
The Beach was ranked no. 4 in the pre-season
coach’s poll which is its highest ranking
ever.
Azevedo said that he is feeling confident
that his team will do well throughout the
rest of the season.
“[I think] we are now in a position where
we can bring a championship title back to
the Beach,” he said.
Long Beach State women’s water polo team
has three returning all-American starters
including first team All-American sophomore
Roberta Stewart, the top-scorer for the
tournament.
All-American third teamer Angelica Garcia
and senior Ashley Richardson are also returning
this season.
The three combined for 163 of the team’s
260 goals last season.
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