The Long Beach State men’s water polo team took the weekend off from competition and hosted a pair of exhibition games against Long Beach City College and LBSU alumni at Campus Pool on Saturday.
Ranked sixth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the 49ers knocked off LBCC 14-3 in the home opener, but they were beaten 13-8 by veteran 49ers who graduated between the classes of 1969 and 2013.
One of those alumni was a graduate from the class of 1986, Chris Costa, who brought his son Sabian, 14, to the game.
“It’s nice to see how the game is developing and how the team is doing,” Costa said. “It’s a lot of fun. My son is playing high school water polo, [and] he got to see how we used to play.”
Exhibition games won’t affect the 49ers’ record; both teams came out hard in the opening sprint of the alumni match.
“This was the best turnout on alumni day since I’ve been here,” eighth-year head coach Gavin Arroyo said.
The 49ers started off fast when junior center Ricardo Guimares scored two goals in the first quarter against LBCC. Junior defender Zacchary Kappos and freshman utility Jacob Fujioka also scored.
By halftime, LBSU led 8-2; in the second half, LBCC scored only one goal.
“It gave us a chance to play one of the better junior college programs,” Arroyo said. “We both live in the same city, and we want to create that natural pipeline for [LBCC] players with LBSU.
About two hours later, LBSU came back out to face its alumni.
Most of the 49ers on the alumni roster finished their college career last season in 2013. The roster included: Brian Schiefer, Will Mathison, Carter Taylor, Rob Robinson and Spencer White.
Once again, Guimares scored the first goal of the game and then added another score off of an assist from junior utility Dimitrios Lappas.
In the second quarter, Joe Sherrin – graduate from the class of 2009 – cut the first half deficit by one at 4-3 when he scored off a counter attack.
The alumni team took its momentum into the start of the third quarter and quickly tied the score at 6-6.
After the alumni conceded a goal, Jeff Greenwood, class of 2009, tied the score at seven with a shot in the back of the cage, off an outlet pass from goalkeeper Derek Wiebe-Bailey.
The alumni team moved ahead 10-7 in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter after Arroyo substituted Kappos in at goalkeeper.
Brian Schultz, graduate from the class of 1995 and former LBSU goalkeeper, gave up the last goal to his son, LBSU freshman Caleb Schultz, who skipped a shot to the back of the net.
“He’s probably going to have to walk home now,” Brian Schultz said.
The 49ers will get back on the road to play conference foe UC Santa Barbara on Sunday at 12 p.m.