49ers Travel to Hawaii For Spring Break

49ers Travel to Hawaii Riding Win Streak
Beach Remain No. 3 Nationally

March 24, 2005

49ERS IN THE BEACHES OF HAWAII: The No. 3-ranked 49ers (15-3, 7-0 MPSF), winners of seven in a row, will try to remain atop the MPSF standings, when they travel to No. 5-ranked Hawaii (9-6, 4-2 MPSF, prior to host Pacific on Thursday) on Friday for a contest at 6:30 p.m. PST. The Beach have been red hot as of late, as the team continues its best start in school-history.

SCOUTING HAWAII: The Wahine enter Thursday's contest with Pacific at 9-6 and 4-2 in the MPSF and No. 5 in the country... Hawaii has won their last five in a row as Monika Kruszona is 20th in the nation in scoring with 32 goals... Hawwaii ranks 24th in the nation in scoring at just about seven and a half goals per game, and 22nd in the nation in defense with 7.3 goals allowed per game.

RUNNING THE SHIP: The 49ers are under the leadership of sixth-year Head Coach Ricardo Azevedo, who has led The Beach to No. 4 national rankings in each of the past three seasons and an overall record of 113-69. The Beach have produced back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history, going 21-9 last season after going 24-8 in 2003. Azevedo, who also coaches the men's team, was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's co-Coach of the Year in 2003.

HAWKINS NAMED MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Goalie Bri Hawkins (San Diego) was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's Player of the Week after racking up35 saves this past week, including 14 blocks against Pacific and another 11 against Cal. Hawkins defense has put her fifth nationally in saves (149) and second in the MPSF. Hawkins is allowing just under five goals a game, which is giving The Beach the fourth-best defense in the country. Hawkins, the school's all-time saves leader, has 774 career saves.

A LOOK AT LAST WEEK: The 49ers swept through three home matches this past week, up-ending Pacific 11-5 behind three goals from Marina Canetti on Friday before holding No. 6-ranked California to one second-half goal in a 7-5 win on Saturday. Cassie Azevedo had three goals in the contest and seven for the weekend. On Sunday, LBSU held off a late rally by San Diego State to edge the Aztecs 6-5. Bri Hawkins completed her stellar three games in the net with 10 saves on Sunday.

AZEVEDO CONTINES STRONG SEASON: Junior attacker Cassie Azevedo (Long Beach), a two-time MPSF Player of the Week this season, currently ranks 13th nationally and fourth in the league in scoring with 39 goals. Azevedo has hit for at least two goals in each of her seven contests, as she as upped her shooting percentage to 39 percent on the year. Azevedo is also second on the team in steals (18) and assists (19).

CAN-ALLY MAKES OPPONENTS PAY: Junior Alison Braden (Calgary) currently leads the club with 27 assists and is second on the team in scoring with 18 goals. Brade now has three of the top-10 assists totals in a season, as her 27 passes this seasons is seventh all-time as she is just six assists away from breaking her career-best of 33 (2003). Braden has led the team in assists in six of the last seven games. Braden has also scored in six of the last seven games. Braden is shooting 32 percent the season.

CANETTI GETS HOT: Brazilian National teamer Marina Canetti (Rio de Janeiro) has begun to adjust to the college game scoring six of her 10 goals this season over the last two weekends. Canetti is shooting 48 percent on the season in 12 games off the bench.

CAMPBELL STEALING CLOSE TO THE CENTURY MARK: Junior 2-meter (defense) Tara Campbell (Montreal), who enter the year with two of the top-10 steal totals, can put her name in the record books one more time as her 30 steals this year is eighth-best. Campbell is just nine steals away from matching last year's total as the one of two Canadians on the team has 97 career steals.

CENTURY SCORERS: This year the 49ers feature two members of the Long Beach State century club, as Drue Wawrzynski (Los Alamitos) has 132 career goal, good for fifth-best, while Cassie Azevedo (Long Beach) is right behind her with 125 goals. Wawrzynski has 17 goals this season, scoring six goals over the past five games.

ROSTER IS FROM ALL OVER: Water polo is very much a Southern California sport, but a closer glance at the roster reveals that some of the best players make their home outside the state, including: two players from Canada (Tara Campbell, Alison Braden), one from Brazil (Marina Canetti), one from Florida (Claire Howie), another from Illinois (Maggie Hatcher) and two from Washington (Christina Wensman, Ashley Heaslip). .


Get weekly schedules and results right in your email box every week! THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE LAST WEEK'S RESULTS ALL OF THIS YEAR'S PRESS RELEASES	Learn more about the Beach Pride Referendum which fully funded all of The Beach's teams. CLICK HERE

Copyrighted by Long Beach State and www.longbeachstate.com. All rights reserved worldwide.
No portion of this site may be reproduced or duplicated without the express written Please contact the webmaster should you find an error or out of date link.

Long Beach State University Athletics

Related Videos