Beach Host LBSU Tournament
No. 4-ranked 49ers Coming Off Huge Win Over No. 2 Stanford Record: 17-5, 6-2 MPSF • Ranking: 4th
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49ers Host Third Annual LBSU Tournament: The No. 4-ranked 49ers (17-5, 6-2 MPSF) will host its third annual Long Beach State Invitational, featuring 12 teams, this Saturday and Sunday. The Beach are currently on a six-game win streak, having won its biggest game in school-history, against Stanford, last Saturday. The 49ers will host UC Santa Cruz at 9:10 a.m., CS Northridge at 12:40 p.m. and UC Irvine at 4:10 p.m. The full tournament goes from 8 a.m. to around 6 p.m. on Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. The 12 teams are broken up into three groups, with USC, the 49ers and San Diego State receiving the top seeds. COMPLETE LBSU TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Head Coach: Ricardo Azevedo, now in his fourth year, is 70-55. 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 the nation, as the team has remained at the No. 4 position from the opening sprint. This is the program's highest ever ranking.
Ready to Break Some Vinyl: The 49ers, with 17 wins overall and six wins in the MPSF, are bordering on a couple of newly minted school-records. Both school-records were set last year after The Beach went 19-13 overall and 6-5 in conference play. The 49ers have twice won six in a row this season, setting and then tying the school-record for consecutive victories.
Biggest Win in School-History: The 49ers took home its biggest win in school-history last Saturday, when it toppled No. 2-ranked Stanford 8-7. The Beach came back from a 4-2 deficit and finished off the victory with 2:29 left on Roberta Stewart's game-winning penalty shot.
Beach Fall to Team USA: LBSU played an exhibition match on Wednesday and lost 12-5 to Team USA, pulling to within 4-3 in the first period, before the U.S. went on a 7-0 run to put the game out of reach.
Stewart Named Week's Best: Sophomore Roberta Stewart (Auckland, NZ) was named the MPSF's Player of the Week for the second time this season after tallying three goals against Stanford on Saturday. Stewart also came away with the game-sealing steal with 29 seconds left to preserve the 8-7 victory. On the year, Stewart has scored a team-best 33 goals.
Hawkins Shuts Down the Net: Sophomore Bri Hawkins (San Diego) has tallied 162 saves this season, helping The Beach to a 17-5 mark. Two weeks ago, Hawkins was named the Rainbow Challenge's Most Outstanding Player leading LBSU to a 4-0-2 record. Hawkins also came up with four key saves against Stanford.
Azevedo Excels in First Season: Freshman Cassie Azevedo (Long Beach/Wilson HS) has scored 29 goals this year and has a team-best 30 steals in her first season with The Beach. Azevedo's game-tying shot from four meters out, and with the shot clock running down, led to a 7-7 tie and eventual win over Stanford. Azevedo also leads the team with a .367 shooting percentage.
Doing the Little Things: All-time leading scorer Ashley Richardson (San Diego) has done the little things this season to keep The Beach No. 4 in the country. Richardson leads LBSU with 46 earned ejections and has tallied 24 steals. Drue Warzynski (Garden Grove) has earned 42 earned ejections this season. Both players have led to numerous 6-on-5 advantages, as The Beach have converted just under 50% (.497) of their power-play opportunities.
Getting it Done: The Beach have five players with 20 or more goals this season, as Angelica Garcia (28), Drue Warzynski (23) and Allison Braden (21) round out the top-five. |
