The Long Beach State men’s water polo team has been preparing for a three-game home stretch, starting on Thursday, and looks to rebound after losing six of its last seven games.
The 49ers (5-9) will take on Occidental College and UC San Diego on Thursday, before hosting UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. Head coach Gavin Arroyo accepted the poor results, but he said he doesn’t feel his team is in a rut heading into the matchups.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a funk,” Arroyo said. “Two games I’m especially concerned with are the overtime losses to Irvine. But, for me as long as we’re competing and the guys are laying it out there, then that’s not a funk to me.”
LBSU’s first opponent this week is Division II Occidental College (2-10). In the 49ers’ last matchup with the Tigers, Arroyo’s team came away with a 22-7 win.
In the second game on Thursday evening, the 49ers will take on UC San Diego (9-9) in a rematch from mid-September, when LBSU came away with an 11-6 victory.
The Tritons are lead by explosive senior Chase Cockerill who has netted 41 goals and dished out 15 assists. Junior driver Nick Alexander is the second part of UC San Diego’s lethal combo, with 25 goals and 38 assists.
“The past couple of years we’ve had a hard time against [UC San Diego],” senior utility Dimitrios Lappas said. “It’s going to be a good game, good practice for Saturday.”
On Saturday, the 49ers will face-off against a familiar foe in UC Santa Barbara (11-6), which will make the fifth meeting this season between the two programs.
“Santa Barbara is a pretty good team, we’ve lost to them three times this year,” Arroyo said. “They’re a stronger team than us, but we’re hoping that home-court advantage helps us out a little bit.”
The Gauchos lead the season series 3-1 and their roster is equipped with a trio that bombards opponents with goals.
Sophomore attacker Shane Hauschild stands at 6’6’’ and towers over the competition. He leads the team with 25 goals and 13 assists. Senior Derek Shoemaker is close behind in total goals with 23 while attacker Liam Gaughan has notched 13 goals of his own.
Lappas said that after playing the Gauchos four times this season and practicing with them during the summer, neither team has a clear advantage. He’s calling a close game, but said his team has the ability and talent to come out on top. Plus, he hopes the home crowd will help LBSU out.
“[Home-court advantage] is going to help a lot,” Lappas said. “We are really excited to play in front of our fans, we’ve been looking forward to this game since we started our hell week in August. It’s definitely going to help us and if the fans come out then that’ll be nice.”
The 49ers start their home stand at the Lindgren Aquatics Center on Thursday against Occidental College at 3 p.m. and UC San Diego at 7 p.m. LBSU wraps its weekend with a matchup with UCSB on Saturday at noon followed by an alumni game at 3 p.m.