The No. 8 Long Beach State men’s water polo team is set to begin its conference schedule with one goal in mind: Get back to the conference tournament.
“Our main goal is to win enough games to get into the [Mountain Pacific Sports Federation] Tournament,” head coach Gavin Arroyo said.
The team enters MPSF play with extra motivation stemming from last season, during which LBSU failed to qualify for the conference tournament for the first time in four years.
“We are hungrier to compete,” sophomore Barry Snyder said.
One significant change from last year is that LBSU (7-6) will host games against No. 5 UC Irvine, No. 7 Pacific and No. 13 Pepperdine. The 49ers were edged out in one-goal decisions by each of those teams on the road last year.
The Beach is hopeful that this flip-flop of the schedule will translate into some key victories.
“We’re going to be more comfortable in our own pool,” said freshman Nick Rascon, the 49ers’ leading goal scorer. “We already beat Pepperdine at the SoCal Tournament so we go into these games with confidence that we can beat these guys.”
Arroyo is excited for the home schedule to begin, saying, “We haven’t played at home yet so we’re going to see what kind of an advantage that brings for us.”
LBSU enters MPSF competition averaging 9.38 goals and 9.69 goals against this season. Arroyo’s main focus to turn the numbers in LBSU’s favor is to work on ball control, which should lead to more productive possessions.
The 49ers won their final nonconference match with a 6-5 decision over the No. 9 UC San Diego Tritons. Sophomore goalkeeper Matthew Kubeck, who made 13 saves in the win, is heating up at just the right time as the 49ers will face UCI at the Campus Pool in the MPSF opener Saturday at noon.
A look around the conference
No. 1 USC (15-1, 1-1 MPSF) will be the odds-on-favorite to win the conference coming off back-to-back national titles. The Trojans are led by All-American goalkeeper Joel Dennerly, who sports an MPSF-low 6.00 goals-against average.
No. 2 California (11-2, 1-0 MPSF) was ranked the preseason No. 1 in the national rankings and boasts the top goal scorer in the nation, junior Ivan Rackov, who has scored 36 goals in his first 12 games this season.
No. 3 UCLA (9-3, 1-1 MPSF) recently finished second in the SoCal Tournament, losing a narrow 9-8 decision to USC in the finals at Spieker Aquatics Center on the UCLA campus.
No. 4 Stanford (7-4, 1-0 MPSF) could be a dark horse for the MPSF crown. The Cardinal upset USC 5-3 for the Trojans’ first loss of the season on Saturday. Cardinal goalkeeper Brian Pingree was named MPSF player of the week for limiting the Trojans to three goals in that victory.
UCI (12-3, 1-0 MPSF) won its lone MPSF game of the season so far, beating Pepperdine 12-9 in Malibu. The Anteaters keep themselves in a lot of games with a suffocating defense that surrenders just 7.00 goals a game.
No. 6 UC Santa Barbara (9-4) has yet to play a conference match. They are returning senior Milos Golic, who placed himself atop the all-time goal scoring list for the Gauchos at 246 in his career in UCSB’s win over Concordia on Sunday.
No. 7 Pacific (9-5, 0-1 MPSF) lost their only conference game of the season 10-9 to UCLA. The Tigers eliminated the 49ers from MPSF contention on the final day of the season last year, and this year’s season finale between the two teams could carry major MPSF Tournament implications as well.
No. 13 Pepperdine (7-9, 0-2 MPSF) fell victim to the 49ers in a triple-overtime thriller earlier this year. LBSU will be looking to ride these Waves to victory much earlier when they meet in The Beach’s second home game of the season Oct. 29.
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