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

Long Beach State men’s water polo loses to UCLA in double overtime

In front a sellout crowd of 738 people at Lindgren Aquatics Center, the Long Beach State men’s water polo team’s comeback attempt against No. 1 UCLA fell short in a 8-6 double overtime loss Saturday.

Going into Saturday’s game, UCLA had won 44 straight contests while winning back-to-back NCAA championships.

The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but LBSU senior attacker Nolan McConnell tied the game at two goals from a penalty shot and during a power play.

Each team scored a goal in the second period to go into halftime tied 3-3.

The 49ers saw themselves down 5-3 after goals by the Bruins’ senior Gordon Marshall and junior utility player Alex Roelse.

LBSU fell behind 6-3 after the Bruins’ senior defender Chancellor Ramirez scored his second goal to put UCLA up with time winding down in the fourth period.

With four minutes remaining in regulation, LBSU (6-1) trailed 6-3. But the team started to connect on offense after sophomore defender Austin Stevenson scored to cut the Bruins’ (11-0) lead to 6-4.

The 49ers weren’t done there, as sophomore defender Keegan Wicken scored his lone goal to bring LBSU deficit to 6-5.

With eight seconds left in regulation, Stevenson’s second goal was the equalizer that forced overtime as his shot hit the crossbar and bounced off of UCLA junior goalie Aleksander Ruzic’s head.

In the overtime periods, UCLA’s senior attackers Ryder Roberts and Patrick Fellner both scored to give the Bruins a 8-6 win.

Leading LBSU, McConnell had three goals while Stevenson had two. Sophomore goalie Thomas Freeman had 12 saves against the Bruins. The Bruins pushed their all-time record to 99-21-1 against LBSU.

The 49ers’ next game will be against UC Davis in Berkeley on Friday.

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