LOS ANGELES — Despite two Justin Koeppen fourth-period
goals, the No. 5 Long Beach State men’s water polo team was unable to swim past No. 7 Loyola Marymount University Lions Saturday, losing 8-6.
The 49ers are now 1-2 against LMU this year, its only win coming at the NorCal Tournament last weekend.
LBSU’s Koeppen led all scorers with two goals. Jake Kinne, Palve Filipovic, Jordan Koeppen and Jeff Greenwood accounted for the other Niners’ goals. LMU had a balanced attack, as every starter found the back of the net, including two goals by Tim Heafner.
LBSU got on the board first, as Kinne opened the game with his goal at 6:58. Greenwood would add one more two minutes later. The Lions, however, would not go away easily, scoring twice to tie the score, 2-2, to end the first period.
“Last time we played we were more stagnate. We couldn’t finish our shots,” LMU head coach John Loughran said. “This time, we were able to finish our shots.”
LMU’s offense came to life in the second period, scoring three times, capped off by Tim Hummel’s goal right before the end of the period. Filipovic would tally LBSU’s only goal of the second period.
LBSU head coach Gavin Arroyo said that the team made some errors, and lost concentration during the game.
“We had to get back on track. To our credit, we did get back on track later in the game, but we made errors at the end,” he said.
The 49ers were able to get back on track, scoring the only goal in the third period, setting the stage for Justin Koeppen’s goals.
LMU scored two quick goals early in the fourth period. Trailing 7-4, Justin Koeppen scored the first of his goals with 4:59 left. He would then bring the Niners to within 7-6 on a penalty shot after a 5-meter violation against LMU’s Brian Benedetti. However, it would be too little, too late as Heafner’s goal at the 2:28 mark sealed the victory for the Lions.
Loughran said that his team and LBSU are similar in talent and that the 49ers provide good competition for his team.
“Both teams are similar to each other. They [LBSU] provide good competition for us,” he said. “It will be a competitive game each time we play each other.” LBSU will play LMU one more time at home on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.
LBSU (7-5) also cruised to victory in both games of a doubleheader in Pomona against Pomona-Pitzer (11-2 win) and 17th-ranked Cal Baptist (12-6 win) on Sunday. The team returns to action against UC San Diego in its home opener Thursday at the Campus Pool at 7 p.m.