The Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center was the place to be on Friday night as a sold-out pool saw hundreds of fans from both The Beach and USC fill the bleachers. The entrance was crowded and more stood waiting eagerly for this top 10 matchup to begin.
Sadly for fans supporting The Beach, a 16-13 loss overshadowed a comeback that fell short. No. 4 USC handed LBSU their third consecutive loss and the Trojans jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, which was too much to overcome.
The first quarter was critical as USC took and maintained the lead throughout the entirety of the game. Acting head coach for Long Beach State, Bret Lathrope, later voiced those early-game frustrations.
“We have to focus on our defense, we gave up six goals in the first quarter, [and] six goals in the second quarter. It is tough to win games when you are giving up 16 goals in a game,” Lathrope said.
The offense did their best to keep up early on. The Beach eventually cut the lead to just four with a goal by junior defender Nikola Jancic, coming as the shot clock expired to conclude the first half.
The second half opened up and The Beach was unable to close the gap, with instead a controversial no-call leaving both players and coaches outraged. Seconds after the no-call, USC’s Zach Bettino tacked on his third of four goals scored on the night to extend the lead to 15-9.
A fourth quarter attack led by freshman Robert Lopez Duart and redshirt freshman Caleb Francisco, who each scored three goals of their own, was not enough.
“We did not play at the level we needed to be tonight,” Lopez Duart said.
Long Beach State is currently 3-3 in their last six games and is currently fighting off a three game losing streak.
The Beach has a quick turnaround as they are set to travel to Cal State Fullerton tomorrow at 7 p.m. to face the rival Titans where they will look to get back into the win column.