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LBSU
women's water polo nets conference opener
against UC Irvine
By
Lonnie Morgan
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
The
Long Beach State women's water polo team
jumpstarted their two-week road trip and
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference
opener in a victorious fashion as they faced
UC Irvine on Saturday.
The
No. 5-ranked 49ers (5-1, 1-0 MPSF) started
off great, but had to fight to hold the
lead as they downed UCI (4-4, 1-1 MPSF)
11-7.
"I
thought we started off well, then got complacent
at the end of the first period and into
the second," Head Coach Ricardo Azevedo
said. "I was pleased with how we finished."
Junior
attacker Cassie Azevedo scored two of her
career-high five goals in the second period
to bump The Beach's lead to two. The Anteaters
fought back with less than five minutes
left in the first half and put up two goals
of their own in the second quarter. LBSU,
unwilling to end the half tied, took the
lead when Junior Alison Braden scored with
0:28 left. The Beach led 4-3 at the end
of the half.
Returning
in the third, Braden picked up second goal
of the game to give LBSU a 5-3 advantage.
Before
the game was through they would accumulate
six more goals, including one apiece from
Jessica Levin and Drue Wawrzynski, and back-to-back
scores by Robyn Gordin in the fourth.
The
Beach held the Anteaters to four goals in
the second half to win 11-7.
"With
the first game of MPSF play, we're still
adjusting to play without National Teamer
Marina Canetti," Azevedo said.
Canetti
is waiting to be cleared for eligibility
after coming over from Brazil.
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