49ers edge out Anteaters, lose to USC

Water Polo • Jay Gerardi scores a goal in the 49ers' 11-10 win against the UC Irvine Anteaters Saturday at the Campus Pool.Claire Howie/Online Forty-Niner

 

By Moria Khou
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

A tumultuous regular season is near a close as the Long Beach State men's water polo team wrapped up play at home, edging out UC Irvine on Saturday, but belly flopped against the University of Southern California on Sunday. The team earned a No. 4 seed in the Mountain Sports Federation Tournament on Nov. 26.

For the eighth time this season, the No. 8-ranked 49ers (15-10, 4-4 MPSF) played in a match decided by one goal. The 49ers managed to hold on for the 11-10 win against the Anteaters (14-11, 4-4 MPSF).

UC Irvine took an early lead in the first quarter, going up 2-1. The Beach surged back in the second behind junior Brett McCleave's two goals in the period, as the 49ers found the back of the net five times in the period to go into half time tied against the Anteaters, 6-6.

49ers goalkeeper Thomas Onyshko was a master of his net in the third quarter as he blanked the Anteaters with four saves in the game. On the offensive end of the pool, McCleave, Reid Tomassi and Brad Scoles slipped the ball past UC Irvine's goalie, Joe Wynne to gain a 9-6 advantage.

The 49ers proved all season that no lead was safe as they nearly let the Anteaters back in the game, allowing four goals in the fourth period. However, McCleave put the clamp down with his fourth goal of the game at the at the 2:17 mark, allowing Long Beach State to cling onto an 11-10 victory. The junior from Lake Forest also tallied his 14th multiple goal game of the season in the match.

"In the second half we stayed with the game plan which we had discussed coming into the game," said 49ers' Head Coach Rick Azevedo. "We did a really good job of frustrating them and getting steals in the third quarter. In the fourth we made some mistakes at the end, but we were able to finish it up."

Tomassi racked up two goals in the game, while Scoles, Riley Brady, Blake Bartak, Jay Gerardi and Matt Shafer closed the game with one goal apiece.

The 49ers didn't get to savor the victory for long. Less then 24-hours later on Sunday afternoon, No. 3-ranked USC (19-4, 5-3 MPSF) sailed into battle for third place in the conference. The Trojans showed no mercy, easily slaying the 49ers 9-3.

"They clearly exposed our mistakes," Azevedo said. USC jumped onto a 5-0 lead in the first quarter with goals from Cameron Kaiser, Juraj Zatovic, Thomas Hale, Garrett Gentry and James Shin. Long Beach State didn't have an answer on the offensive end as Trojans' goalkeeper Don Ricci turned away everything the 49ers threw at him. By halftime, The Beach was in complete disarray, trailing 8-0.

The 49ers managed to put three on the scoreboard in the second half with two goals by Bartak and one from McCleave but it was too little, too late.

Long Beach State's seniors, James Durley and John Filipponi swam away in their final games at home on a somber note.

On the upside, Onyshko's nine saves against USC moved him to third all-time on the career saves list with 537 as he passed James Makshanoff (532).

Long Beach State also clinched fourth place in the MPSF with a loss by UC Irvine to UCLA on Sunday. UCLA stands atop the conference followed by Stanford, USC and Long Beach State.

The 49ers will wrap up the regular season at Pepperdine on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. and the MPSF Tournament will begin on Nov. 26-28 at Stanford.