Beach #4 Seed at MPSF Tournament
49ers Begin Title Run at Stanford Record: 23-6, 8-2 MPSF • Ranking: 4th FULL PDF RELEASE
Beach #4 Seed in MPSF Tournament: The No. 4-ranked 49ers (23-6, 8-2 MPSF), winners of 12 of 13, will be the #4 seed in this week's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship. The Beach are slated to play #5 seed California (12-7, 6-4 MPSF) in the first round at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The 49ers have beaten Cal twice this year, 10-2 at home and 9-7 at the UC Santa Barbara Tournament. Should LBSU win, it will likely be a re-match with host Stanford at 6 p.m. on Saturday. If they lose, it will play at 2:15 on Saturday.
Last year's tournament was what made the 49ers, as its 8-7 upset over then #4 seed Cal, moved it into the winner's bracket and its current No. 4 national ranking. Since that point, LBSU has become one of the "team's to beat" in the nation, proving that they can play with anyone in the country (8-7 win over Stanford and a one goal loss to USC).
MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, APRIL 25
G1 10 a.m. #8 San Jose St. vs. #9 UC Santa Barbara
G2 11:15 a.m. #7 San Diego St. vs. #10 UC Irvine
G3 12:30 p.m. #6 Hawaii vs. #11 Pacific
G4 3:30 p.m. #4 LONG BEACH vs. #5 California
G5 4:45 p.m. #1 Stanford vs. Winner of G1
G6 6 p.m. #2 USC vs. Winner of G2
G7 7:15 p.m. #3 UCLA vs. Winner of G3
SATURDAY, APRIL 26
G8 1 p.m. Losers of G2 and G3
G9 2:15 p.m. Losers of G4 vs. G5
G10 3:30 p.m. Losers G6 and G7
G11 6 p.m. Winners G4 and G5
G12 7:15 p.m. Winners G6 and G7
SUNDAY, APRIL 27
9th Place (9:30 a.m.) Loser of 1 vs. Winner of G8
7th Place (10:45 a.m.) Losers of G9 and G10
5th Place (12 p.m.) Winners of G9 and G10
3rd Place (2 p.m.) Losers of G11 and G12
1st Place (3:15 p.m.) Winners of G11 and G12
Coaching Staff: Ricardo Azevedo, now in his fourth year, is 76-55. Azevedo's women's teams have three times in his four seasons, set school-records for victories. The 49ers first-ever winning season, first-ever first team All-American (Roberta Stewart), and highest ever ranking have come during Azevedo's tenure. 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. Azevedo has two children currently playing water polo, Tony, a member of Stanford's men's team and the U.S. National team, and current freshman Cassie. The team's coaching staff features, Cheri Swatek, a successful high school coach in the Long Beach area, and goalie coach Stan Sprague, a U.S. Water Polo Hall of Famer and former two-time All-American.
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.
Get Out the Eraser: Two seasons. Two school-records for victories. Last year the team went 19-13, and 6-5 in the MPSF, setting the record for triumphs, which lasted, oh, one year. This year's win total of 23 has already surpassed that mark. The team's 8-2 record and third place finish in conference, are both first's for the six year old program. The team finished its home schedule with a school-best 11-1 mark.
Rolling Along: The 49ers set and then broke the school-record for consecutive victories this season, first with a six-game win streak from February 14 to 28, before riding a 10-game win streak from March 22 to April 13. The latest win streak included the program's biggest victory of all-time, an 8-7 triumph over Stanford. The previous best's were a couple of five-game streaks in 2000 and 2002.
Gotta Like Playing in Tournaments: The Beach were 12-4 in four regular season tournaments this season, winning the school's first-ever tournament title at the UC San Diego Tournament to begin the season by defeating Arizona State, Michigan, Loyola Marymount and San Diego State. The 49ers split its next tournament a month later at UCSB, winning over Pacific and Cal, before losing to Stanford and USC. In Hawaii, The Beach went 4-0-2 with wins over four-year programs UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego and Cal Baptist, along with an exhibition win over New Zealand and two ties to Australia. The team's win in Hawaii saw Bri Hawkins (San Diego) earn Most Outstanding Player honors. At its own Classic, The Beach defeated the Banana Slugs, CS Northridge, UC Irvine and San Diego State, before falling by one goal to USC.
Sophomores Climbing the Charts: All-American Roberta Stewart (Auckland, NZ), with 45 goals this season, has the 9th-best single season total in school-history. Stewart tallied the fourth-best total last year with 65. Goalie Bri Hawkins (San Diego) has 212 saves this year, good enough for second-best in a season, eclipsing her 2002 total of 179. Amanda Wightman's 2001 total of 236, could also fall this season.
Re-Writing the Charts: Four 49ers are ranked on the 49ers all-time list for goals scored in a career, led by senior captain Ashley Richardson's (San Diego) 184 goals. Angelica Garcia is third with 147 goals, Roberta Stewart is fifth with 110 goals and Drue Wawrznski is eighth with 69 goals. Bri Hawkins' 391 career saves is second all-time.
Plenty of Options The Beach have six players this season with 20 or more goals, as the team has had eight different players lead the team in goals.
International Flavor The Beach feature four players from outside the continental United States this season. Angelica Garica (Puerto Rico) was the school's first player, while Roberta Stewart (New Zealand) was the team's first foreigner. Allison Braden and Tara Campbell both joined the team this year, from Canada. All four play for their country's national teams.
Stewart Leads the Charge: First team All-American Roberta Stewart (Auckland, NZ) leads the club with 45 goals this season, leading the 49ers in scoring in 11 games this season. Stewart also has a team-best 37 steals and 42 assists. She is fourth on the team in shooting with a .346 clip (45-130). Stewart was a first team all-MPSF Tournament honoree last year as well.
All's Fair in Love and Wawr: Sophomore Drue Wawrzynski (Garden Grove) is tied for second on the team with 36 goals this season, shooting at a .353 clip, third-best on the team. Wawrzynski has 61 earned ejections and has played in a team-best 104 quarters. Wawrzynski has scored in six of the past seven games.
Garcia Continues to Fire Away: Third team All-American Angelica Garcia (Catano, PR) is tied for the team lead with 36 goals this season, as she looks to become the third player in school-history to eclipse 150 goals in her career (she currently has 147). Garcia is second on the team with a .379 shooting percentage and third in assists with 23. Garcia has been named to two all-tournament teams, the Rainbow Challenge and the Long Beach State Invitational.
Nothing Stopping Her: Sophomore goalie Bri Hawkins (San Diego) has allowed an average of just over five goals this season in the net, tallying 212 saves. Hawkins has also stolen away 46 passes around the goal. Earlier this season, Hawkins was named the Rainbow Challenge's Most Outstanding Player, and was a second team all-MPSF Tournament selection last year.
Full of Riches: All-time leading scorer and honorable mention All-American Ashley Richardson (San Diego) has sacrificed scoring for wins this season, tallying just 21 goals, but shooting .333 from the field and earning a team-best 62 earned ejections. Richardson's 27 steals ranks third, while her 22 assists is fifth.
Freshmen Helping the Cause: Freshmen Cassie Azevedo (Long Beach) and Allison Braden (Calgary, Alberta) are 4-5 on the team in scoring this season with 34 and 26 goals, respectively. Azevedo has led the team in assists eight times, tallying 25 assists, while Braden has led the team in assists six times, dishing out 32 assists. Azevedo is shooting .330, while Braden is hitting .338 of her shots. |
