The No. 8 Long Beach State men’s water polo team suffered its most devastating defeat of the season, as the 49ers were downed by No. 10 Pepperdine 9-8 on Friday night at the Campus Pool.
It was a must-win-game for both sides, as the winner would force the other team to win two more games down the stretch just to qualify for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.
Sophomore Spencer Hamby scored the go-ahead goal for the Waves (9-11, 1-4 MPSF) with 4:20 left in the game, and Pepperdine held on for its first MPSF win of the year.
“We had our opportunities and just couldn’t execute,” said 49ers head coach Gavin Arroyo. “Our backs are against the wall now.”
The 49ers (7-9, 0-3 MPSF) had rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game at 8 off a penalty shot goal from junior Alexsandr Petrovic, but a myriad of turnovers kept The Beach from finding the equalizer after Pepperdine retook the lead.
“Long Beach is a strong team and we had to prepare for them like the best team in the country,” said Waves head coach Jack Kocur. “It was hard to come into their place on a Friday night under the lights. It could’ve gone either way.”
The loss puts LBSU in a tough position. The 49ers must win two of their final five MPSF games, three of which come in consecutive games on the road against No. 3 UCLA (Oct. 31), No. 4 Stanford (Nov. 6) and No. 1 California (Nov. 7).
“Gavin told us we have nothing to lose and that makes us dangerous,” said senior Patrick van der Linde after the team’s tough loss.
Petrovic, Shane Luth and freshman Nick Rascon led the 49ers in scoring with two goals each.
Junior Nathan Castillo and sophomore Danny White recorded hat tricks to lead the Waves in their win.
The Beach got off to a good start when Luth scored on the opening possession of the game. Pepperdine tied it up with a power play goal from Castillo two minutes later.
The two teams stayed within a goal of each other until the Waves gained some separation from the 49ers near the end of the first half.
The Beach fell victim to some bad bounces as Castillo’s tie-breaking goal with 1:29 left in the second quarter glanced off a 49er defender and rung off the crossbar, landing in the back of the cage. LBSU went into the break down 7-5.
LBSU traded goals with Pepperdine in the third quarter and went into the all-important fourth quarter trailing 8-6.
Hamby’s goal midway through the fourth quarter put the 49ers back on their heels. And, The Beach was unable to find the back of the net again, despite several Pepperdine turnovers in the last four minutes.
LBSU hits the road to face UCLA (12-3, 3-1 MPSF) Sunday at the Spieker Aquatics Center. Game time is set for 12 p.m.
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