Men's Water Polo, Sports

49ers defeat three NCAA top-10 teams

The Long Beach State men’s water polo team finished a battle-tested weekend in Westwood at the SoCal Tournament, winning the games against Pacific, UC Davis and UC San Diego

In LBSU’s first day of action at the invitational hosted by UCLA, it defeated UCD 9-6.

“Part of me is happy that we got fifth [place],” head coach Gavin Arroyo said. “Part of me is looking at the things we need to do better to compete at a high level.”

During the 49ers’ first game against UCSD (8-8, 3-0 Western Water Polo Association), senior center Dan Matulis scored his second goal of the game on a quick left-handed shot, as the entire defense collapsed on him in the middle, extending the ‘Niners’ lead to 8-5.

“You just work so hard at center in getting position,” Matulis said. “It happens so fast that it’s kind of like a nerve reaction to turn and shoot.”

With less than two minutes remaining in the game, junior utility Dimitrios Lappas made a spin move to create separation in the middle, and scored the go-ahead goal at 10-9.

“They deserved to win,” Pacific head coach James Graham said. “They have a team that can compete with anybody in the nation, and we were happy that we were right there with them.”

However, in the second game of last Saturday’s doubleheader, the 49ers (13-3, 1-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) received the rematch they hoped for against the third-ranked team in the conference in California (17-2, 1-0 MPSF).

Cal knocked off The Beach 14-8 in the quarterfinals round off of a second-half rally, giving the 49ers their biggest deficit in a loss this season.

LBSU battled neck and neck through three quarters against Cal, but in the fourth quarter, Cal overpowered The Beach with five goals.

“We got off to a 3-1 lead and were ahead at halftime,” Matulis said. “They went on a good run in the second half, and we just couldn’t stop them.”

After the loss to Cal, the 49ers faced Pacific (11-7, 0-3 MPSF) early Sunday morning.

In that game, four 49ers [Matulis, center Ricardo Guimares, Lappas and attacker Nick Rascon] scored two goals for their team.

“It’s always great when you can score,” Arroyo said. “Defensively, we let it get a lot closer than it needed to be.”

Despite a late, fourth-quarter comeback in which Pacific tied the score at nine, LBSU was able to hold the Tigers off 11-9.

In LBSU’s final game of the weekend, the ‘Niners pulled out a come-from-behind win against UC San Diego 11-10, taking fifth place in the tournament.

“My hope is that we just keep getting better,” Arroyo said. “We have to eliminate the bone head mistakes, for lack of a better word. They’re giving teams a lot of chances by being reactionary and out of position.

Before the officials blew the last whistle, LBSU had climbed back from a three-goal deficit that began in the third quarter. In the middle of the third quarter, senior utility Joey Fabian delivered a goal that cut the deficit to 9-7.

Senior attacker Milos Vrzic scored the last goal of the third quarter, which inched the 49ers closer at 9-8.

At the start of the fourth, junior defender Zacchary Kappos tied the score at nine when the 49ers were awarded a five-meter penalty shot.

Kappos tallied eight goals over the weekend, which increased his season total to a team-leading 33 goals.

Fabian scored the game-winning tiebreaker, with a skip shot that bounced off the bar and into the cage.

“It’s huge whenever you can come from behind,” Fabian said. “I’ll do whatever to help the team get that win.”

Picking up their worst loss of the season and three narrow wins, Arroyo said he expects to see his team improve its game.

“We have to do a better job of getting in position, execute and shot block,” Arroyo said. “It’s mental, we have to approach the game better.”

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