Men's Sports, Men's Water Polo, Sports

49ers defeat LMU for fourth time, fall short of upset at No. 2 USC

The No. 8 Long Beach State men’s water polo team bounced back from losses to UCLA and Stanford last week with a win over Loyola Marymount and a tight match against No. 2 Southern California over the weekend.

The ‘Niners started off the first of four away games to close out the regular season by visiting No. 15 ranked LMU on Thursday afternoon.

The match started out with LBSU (11-9, 1-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) falling behind, 4-3, at the end of the first quarter to the Lions.

The ‘Niners, however, responded in the second period, outscoring the Lions 4-1 in the quarter on a run that was sparked by senior Carter Taylor.

Taylor led the ‘Niners in scoring with four goals in the match.

With a three-goal halftime lead, the 49ers came out sluggish to start the third period, and LMU (12-13, 2-3 WWPA) took advantage, scoring two quick goals and cutting the 49ers’ lead to just one.

LBSU responded and put the pressure back on the Lions with strong play from freshman Nolan McConnell and sophomore Conner Reilly who each contributed three goals apiece.

In the final period of play, both teams went blow for blow, each scoring three times in the final eight minutes.

However, with a slim lead built up and consistent play down the stretch, the ‘Niners were able to fend off any late charges from the Lions and leave the Burns Aquatics Center with a 12-10 victory.

Sophomore goalkeeper Pavo Ljepopio finished the game with 9 saves, rounding out a strong defensive effort for the ‘Niners.

The ‘Niners then traveled to the Uytengsu Aquatics Center on Sunday to take on the No. 2 USC Trojans (22-3, 4-2 MPSF).

The Trojans, who were coming off of an emotional overtime loss to No. 4 Stanford the day before, were looking for a win against No. 8 LBSU in their last home game of the season.

The ‘Niners, who lost earlier in the season to the Trojans by a wide margin, knew what they were up against and came out firing in the first half of play against USC.

Sophomore Zacchary Kappos single-handedly kept the ‘Niners neck and neck with USC all the way through the first half by scoring three goals off of rocketing outside shots — one in particular that soared straight over the goalie’s head so fast that it took the keeper’s cap off.

“It’s hard to stop a guy with an arm like that,” Mefford said of Kappos’ strong performance. “Their defense was leaving a lot of open opportunities, and Zach stepped up and was that guy for us.”

At halftime the ‘Niners trailed 4-3 with Kappos accounting for all of LBSU’s goals.

“Our defense was super solid,” Mefford said. “We fought the whole game and gave them a run for their money.”

In the third and fourth quarters of play, the 49ers continued to pour on the pressure with goals from Taylor, Mefford, sophomore Ricardo Guimares and redshirt freshman Patrick Goodenough.

In the end, the Trojans were able to pull away from the ‘Niners and achieve a 10-8 win, but for LBSU the game was strong evidence of the progression that’s taken place in the team.

“We have a structure that lets us get better throughout the season,” Mefford said, “and we’re going into all of these games expecting to win.”

The 49ers will finish regular season play on Saturday when they travel to Stockton, Calif., to take on the top-ranked Pacific.

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