The Long Beach State men’s water polo team trounced a short-handed Pepperdine team at the Campus Pool on Saturday afternoon, ending the game at 14-3.
LBSU (10-3, 2-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) also dominated Golden West College (16-2, 3-0 Orange Empire Conference) in an 18-9 victory.
“It’s important for the playoffs that we win every [MPSF] game,” 49er center Ricardo Guimares said. “It doesn’t matter if they have the whole team, or three guys.”
Pepperdine (8-9, 0-3 MPSF) entered the game short three men: goalkeeper Zack Rhodes, and freshmen attackers Justin Cowen and Kenneth Keller; these three players from the starting lineup were suspended.
“We had kind of a rough week,” the Waves’ head coach Terry Schroeder said. “We already don’t have very much depth, and our goalie [Chandler Rockwell] that played, it was his first game in that position because he’s usually a skill player.”
Guimares emphasized the importance of winning at this point in the season.
“At the end of the year, two spots for the NCAA Tournament are from [the best] overall seasons, so the wins are important,” Guimares said. “It doesn’t matter if some of their players are out because of something they did outside of water polo.”
The 49ers opened the game with a 3-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, while goalkeeper Pavo Ljepopio and the ‘Niners defense limited the Waves to three goals for the entire game, all of which were scored by attacker Wesley Sherburne.
“Defensively, I thought we did a solid job today [Saturday],” head coach Gavin Arroyo said. “Anytime you hold a team to three points, especially a team like Pepperdine, that’s a good day for us.”
LBSU attacker Nick Rascon scored a goal at the beginning of the second quarter and tallied another in the third.
“It’s always good to win, especially after last year when they beat us 10-8 at their pool,” Rascon said. “For us to establish a sense of dominance, it’s always a positive thing at the beginning of conference play.”
LBSU defender Zacchary Kappos scored a game-high four goals. Kappos fired in his third goal of the game, in the second quarter from the top of the perimeter, which gave the Beach a 6-1 lead at halftime.
“When no one is open and I have a shot, it’s my turn to go,” Kappos said.
Eight 49ers (Guimares, Kappos, Rascon, attacker Joey Fabian, utility Devin Mefford, attackers Nolan McConnell, Patrick Goodenough and Milos Vrzic) scored against Rockwell, drilling in six goals in the fourth quarter.
“It’s tough playing with only eight or nine guys, and against Long Beach, it’s a tough matchup,” Schroeder said. “When you only go one for seven on those six-on-fives, you’re not going to beat anyone.”
In the second game of Saturday’s double-header, LBSU defeated a formidable California Community College Athletic Association water polo program in Golden West; it won two CCCAA state championships in the last three years.
Guimares is a former product of GWC, where he led the Rustlers to back-to-back championships.
In the second half of the exhibition, Guimares scored in the third quarter against his former team.
“It was interesting because in my two years there, I never lost a game,” Guimares said. “It was a weird feeling because I have a lot of respect for the coach [Scott Taylor]; he introduced me to Arroyo.”
The 49ers will host two MPSF teams next weekend: UC Irvine on Saturday and Pacific on Sunday. Both games are set to begin at noon.