49ers sail over Waves in double overtime

Water polo • Junior Goalie Thomas Onyshko makes one of his eight saves during a 9-8 49ers' win over Pepperdine on Saturday at The Campus Pool. Jon Cook/Daily Forty-Niner

 

By Moria Khou
Daily Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

After being edged out in a one-point defeat by UC San Diego last week, Long Beach State returned the favor to Pepperdine as they dodged the Waves in double overtime to win 9-8 on Saturday at The Campus Pool.

With the victory, the No. 11-ranked 49ers' men water polo team improved its record to 10-6 and 1-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener, while No. 8 Pepperdine's record dropped to 9-7 and 1-1.

Junior Brett McCleave put the ball past Pepperdine's goalkeeper, Robbie Miller at 1:22 in the second overtime period on an assist by Stefan Ludecke to put Long Beach State atop for good.

Head Coach Rick Azevedo was optimistic by what he saw Saturday and impressed by his team's ability to close out the highly contested match against the Waves.

"We are such a young team, but we're improving by leaps and bounds on a daily basis," he said. "When we play our game, we can play with anybody."

Both teams entered the fourth period tied at six goals apiece. Freshman Adam Hewko found the back of the net first to give the Waves an early 7-6 command of the pool. However, Long Beach State rallied back behind senior John Filipponi's two goals in the quarter as the two teams ended regulation the same way they entered, even, only now at 8-8.

Junior goalkeeper, Thomas Onyshko stood strong in both overtime periods to calm the surging Waves. The 49ers' defensive leader turned away three Pepperdine shots in extended play, including an attempt by freshman Grant Miller with five seconds remaining on the clock.

"Tom (Onyshko) is one of the top three goalies in the country," Azevedo said. "Tom did a good job defensively for us today and he came up with some big blocks. He positioned himself well defensively and was able to channel the shots to where we wanted them to be."

Saturday's nail biting victory over Pepperdine was the sixth time this season Long Beach State has been in a match decided by one goal. The 49ers have fallen on the short end in four of the six contests.

49ers' goalie Onyshko was up to par with his season average as he totaled eight stops in the game.

McCleave continued to lead The Beach in scoring, adding two more goals during the match to bring his total to 26 on the season. Jay Gerardi and Reid Tomassi matched McCleave in the game with two netters. Ludecke, John Filipponi and John Foster ended with one goal apiece.

Saturday's play against Pepperdine was the first of five consecutive MPSF matches for Long Beach State.

The 49ers will host California on Saturday and Pacific on Sunday. Both games will be played at noon at The Campus Pool.