Carter Taylor’s late goal with 1:33 left in the match gave the ‘Niners a two-goal advantage, leading to an eventual 7-6 victory over No. 11 UC San Diego at the 49er Campus Pool Friday night.
Taylor prevailed in a struggle for a loose ball in front of the UCSD net before putting away a goal that gave LBSU (8-8, 1-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) some insurance late in the match.
Taylor Clute opened the scoring for the Beach on a fast break goal, evening the match, 1-1, heading into the second quarter. The 49er defense controlled the second quarter; LBSU took a 3-1 halftime lead on goals from Jeff Greenwood and Alexsandr Petrovic.
The two teams exchanged goals in the third quarter. Goalie Derek Wiebe-Bailey recorded three consecutive saves at the 2:50 mark, stifling the Tritons attack and allowing the ‘Niners to enter the final quarter up two goals. Wiebe-Bailey played a large part in the win recording a match-high 16 saves.
UCSD showed resilience in the final quarter; a shot from 49er Shane Luth rocketed off the post, leading to a fortuitous Triton fast break goal, evening the match at five with 4:55 remaining.
Kevin Mundia scored the crucial go-ahead goal at the 2:21 mark, followed by the goal from Taylor allowing the Beach to prevail.
LBSU head coach Gavin Arroyo was happy with the victory, but was concerned by the Tritons’ second quarter comeback.
“We let them stay in the game,” Arroyo said. “It’s frustrating because we beat them 11-7 earlier in the year, and we were playing at home [tonight]. We should have been able to create some distance.”
Arroyo has plans for improvement entering the later part of the season.
“They were scoring goals late when they counted more … we weren’t able to hold them out of the game and that’s the next step,” he said.
The ‘Niners face No. 4 UCLA Sunday at noon at the 49er Campus Pool in an attempt to increase their winning streak to three games.