The Long Beach State men’s water polo team defeated fellow ranked opponents UC Davis and Loyola Marymount en route to capturing ninth place in the NorCal Invitational at Diablo Valley College on Sunday.
No. 10 LBSU (5-2) cruised past No. 15 UCD, 7-4, and scraped by No. 8 LMU, 6-5. The victories give the 49ers a three-game winning streak.
Taylor Clute and Alexsandr Petrovic led the 49ers in scoring on the day with three goals apiece. Patrick van der Linde, Barry Snyder and Nick Rascon added two goals each.
After surrendering 20 goals in its two games on Saturday, The Beach gave up just nine goals on Sunday.
In the game against the Aggies (8-3), the 49ers grabbed an early lead with the only goal of the opening frame.
The two teams matched goal totals in the second and third quarters. LBSU took a slim one-goal lead into the final eight minutes looking for breathing room.
The Beach expanded its lead with three goals in the fourth quarter. With strong defense and eight saves from goalkeeper Matthew Kubeck, the 49ers advanced to the ninth-place game to take on the LMU Lions (6-4).
LBSU found itself in a dogfight in the NorCal tournament finale. With little margin for error, Kubeck came up big for his team again, amassing seven saves while his usually-explosive offense struggling to put six shots past LMU goalkeeper Andy Stevens.
Tied at 4 going into the fourth quarter, LBSU outscored the Lions, 2-1, to come away with the narrow victory.
The 49ers jumped ahead 2-1 after the first period, but the Lions answered back with a goal in the second quarter while keeping The Beach off the board.
With the game knotted up at 2 going into the second half, the two teams doubled their goal totals in the third quarter.
The 49ers remain on the road this Friday when they take on No. 5 UC Irvine at the Anteater Pool.
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