Lights beamed down on the crystal blue water as students and fans alike filed into the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center Friday for the Golden Coast Conference opener.
Long Beach (6-5, 0-1 GCC) kicked off conference play looking to end a three-game losing streak, but fell short to No.11 Pepperdine (7-6, 1-0 GCC) 10-8.
The Waves quickly put four on the board, but the 49ers responded with two goals before the end of the first. The second quarter for Long Beach was met with more success. After winning the sprint, the team put a trio of goals up and took the lead.
“We cannot afford to go down 4-0 to a team that is equal to us when it comes to talent and skill,” assistant coach Sale Petrovic said.
The 49ers came back after the half looking to get the ball rolling and take the lead once again. As tensions grew in the crowd halfway through the third quarter, the 49ers lost their momentum and went down 6-7.
“I have some good players and we want to set the tempo, obviously we controlled the tempo when they came out and they kind of caught us off guard a little bit,” head coach Gavin Arroyo said. “I think that kind of changed the dynamic of the game right from the get go. I’m proud about the way we came back.”
As the third quarter barreled on, Long Beach fired back and tied once again with junior center Johnathan Wong’s second goal of the game. Senior defender Keegan Wicken’s two goals in the first half ignited the team and kept them competitive.
“We played down to a level and after the first quarter, after a good four minutes, we picked up our game,” junior center Johnathan Wong said.
In the final quarter, the 49ers were depleted and allowed three more goals. Senior attacker Lovro Miocevic responded as the student section roared and the shot clock expired, with one last goal ending the game on an exciting yet disappointing score of 10-8.
“We shut down in the second half, we had a hard time scoring the goal in the third and fourth quarter,” Petrovic said. “People were nervous, they were taking fast shots when they weren’t in a good position and off balance, which were just easy blocks for the goalies and it ended up costing us the game.”
Long Beach heads up north looking for a win 6 p.m. Thursday against Stanford followed by a game against UC Davis Friday in the NorCal Tournament.
“I think we just gotta get more composed and learn how to win. Right now we just don’t know how to win those games,” Arroyo said.