Looking to finish its regular season strong, the Long Beach State men’s water polo team defeated the UC Irvine Anteaters 10-6 Friday at the Lindgren Aquatics Center.
Going into Friday’s game, LBSU (14-8) was coming off a 12-5 win against LMU. UCI (9-13) came from a 9-6 loss against California.
At the end the of the first period, LBSU led the match a 4-1 lead against the Anteaters.
“In the first quarter we came out really strong, the score was like 4-1 in the first few minutes,”
LBSU freshman attacker James Rozsypal said. “At the end [of the first half] I think we kind
of laid back.”
During the second period of the game, UCI started to catch up to LBSU by scoring three
goals. However, the 49ers did not stay behind as they did respond with two more goals by the end of the second period, leading into halftime with a score of 6-3.
After halftime, the 49ers’ offense came out strong as they outscored UCI 4-3.
“After halftime, coach Gavin talked to the players,”, Rozsypal said. “He made sure that [the players knew] it is senior night so it is the last time that our seniors are going to be playing at our pool.”
During the third period, both teams started to play more aggressively. A few players on both sides were sent to the penalty box for infractions.
“A rival game with UCI is always a big game,” LBSU head coach Gavin Arroyo said. “We always know that they are very fierce competitors. Our games [vs UCI] are always going to be a dog fight.”
LBSU scored four more goals to take a 10-4 advantage against the Anteaters at the end of the third period.
The fourth period of the game was another tight period for both teams. Both teams came out firing on offense but they did not manage to get a lot of goals in.
UCI was the only team that scored three more goals during the fourth period.
At the end of the game LBSU beat UCI, 10-6..
“We kind of stuck to our game plan,” Lee Griffin, LBSU junior center said. “We did what we needed to do and we took care of business.”
The next match for The Beach will be for the Golden Coast Conference Tournament.
“I think tonight gets us in the third seed [in the GCC tournament],” Arroyo said. “Looks like we
will match up against San Jose State and that is all we are going to focus on right now.”
The GCC tournament match for LBSU will be on Friday, Nov. 18 in Stockton.