49ers Head to San Jose State Saturday
Beach Still Ranked No. 4 in the Nation Record: 11-6, 3-2 MPSF • Ranking: 4th
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49ers Head to Northern California: The No. 4-ranked 49ers (11-6, 3-2 MPSF) will make its only trip to the Northern California, this Saturday, when it travels to No. 9-ranked San Jose State (12-7, 2-2 MPSF). The Beach have lost three straight, twice to No. 1 teams (Stanford and UCLA) and once to No. 3 USC over the past two weeks. The 49ers are in the middle of a month long roadtrip, featuring tour stops in Los Angeles (twice), San Jose, Santa Barbara and Honolulu. The 49ers are currently in fourth in the MPSF standings.
Head Coach: Ricardo Azevedo, now in his fourth year, is 64-55. In 2002, Azevedo was named the MPSF's women's water polo co-Coach of the Year. Azevedo also coaches the 49er men's team and is an assistant with the Men's National Team.
Rank and File: The 49ers are ranked No. 4 in this year's national rankings, as the team has remained at the No. 4 position from the opening sprint.
Recent Splashes: LBSU fell 10-4 at No. 1 UCLA on March 14, as four players had one goal a piece... The Beach finished fourth at the UC Santa Barbara Gaucho Tournament two weeks ago, defeating Pacific (10-5) and Cal (9-7) on the first day before falling to No. 1 Stanford (4-2) and No. 3 USC (11-5) on Sunday. It was the team's highest-ever finish at this particular tournament.
Stewart Leads the Way: Sophomore All-American Roberta Stewart (Auckland, NZ) leads the club with 29 goals, 26 assists and 26 steals. Stewart had scored in 11 straight games, before being shutout at UCLA last Friday. Stewart is shooting 39% from the field this season, third-best on the team. Stewart scored two goals in the first half against top-rated Stanford two weeks ago, giving The Beach a 2-1 halftime lead over the Cardinal.
Garcia Finding the Net: Junior All-American Angelica Garcia (Catano, Puerto Rico) leads the 49ers with a 47% accuracy rating, scoring on 20 of her 43 attempts. Garcia has score at least one goal in nine of her last 12 contests. Her 20 goals this season rank second on the team.
Not a Bad First Year: Freshmen Cassie Azevedo (Long Beach/Wilson HS) and Alison Braden (Calgary, Alberta) have made an immediate impact for the 49ers this season. Azevedo is tied for third on the team with 17 goals, while Braden has 15 goals. Azevedo is hitting 43% (second on team) of her shots, while Braden is hitting 32%.
No Sophomore Slump Here: Sophomore Drue Wawrzynski (Garden Grove) is currently tied for third on the team with 17 goals. Wawrzynski is also second in earned ejections with 30.
Saving the Day: Sophomore goalie Bri Hawkins (San Diego) has tallied 115 saves this season, moving her into second place all-time with 294 saves.
Best Start in School History: With an 11-2 start, LBSU was off to its best start in the program's six years, eclipsing the 2001 team which started the year 7-3. The 3-1 start in MPSF play was also a first, as the team has never begun a conference season better than .500 before this year.
Breaking Vinyl: The 49ers six-game win streak from February 14 to February 28 was the longest in school-history, breaking the 2000 and 2002 teams, which each won five in a row. |
