MacKenzie Saves The Day
49ers Defeat UC Irvine, 7-5
November 18, 2006 | MEN'S WATER POLO | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | F | RECORDS | | UC Irvine | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -- | 5 | 10-17/2-5 | | Long Beach St. | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | -- | 7 | 10-15/2-6 | LBSU GOALS: Jeff Greenwood (2), Jay Gerardi (2), Kevin Bradley, Travis Buchanan, Greg Henneman
UCI GOALS: Colin Mello (2), Kyle Baxter, Curt Merlo, Taylor Wells | | GOALIE SAVES: Steve MacKenzie (LBSU) 16; Matt Garcia (UCI) 12 |
LONG BEACH, CA-- Junior goalie Steve MacKenzie recorded a career-high 16 goalie saves to help lift No. 10-ranked Long Beach State to a 7-5 win over UC Irvine on Saturday afternoon in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men's water polo game at the 49er Campus Pool. The 49ers end their regular season at 10-15 overall and 2-6 in the MPSF. UCI falls to 10-17 and 2-5 in league play. With the win, the 49ers clinched a spot in next weekend's MPSF Tournament.
MacKenzie, whose previous high was 14 saves in a game earlier this year at Stanford, was spectacular all day long, but especially when the game was on the line. He had seven of his 16 saves in the fourth quarter, while not allowing a UCI goal in that period.
"Our team defense was pretty good today," said 49er Head Coach Gavin Arroyo. "Steve MacKenzie was the key though. He had an outstanding game. He came in as a good goaltender and has turned into a great one. This was a good character builder today."
Senior Jay Gerardi tallied two goals in his final home game and redshirt freshman Jeff Greenwood also scored twice. Senior Kevin Bradley, Greg Henneman and Travis Buchanan scored the other 49er goals. Colin Mello tallied two goals for UCI.
Long Beach got on the scoreboard first as Buchanan scored at 5:57. UCI came right back as Mello tallied his first goal of the day at 4:24 to tie the contest. Gerardi's goal at 2:31 gave The Beach a brief lead, but Mello tallied his second goal at 2:10 to the the game at 2-2.
Tied at 3-3, the 49ers scored back-to-back goals late in the second quarter to take a 5-3 lead. Bradley scored at 2:33 and Greenwood's first goal of the day at 1:53 gave the 49ers the advantage. UCI cut the deficit to one at half after a goal with six seconds left on the clock by Taylor Wells. Henneman gave the 49ers a 6-4 lead at 2:37 in the third, but that goal was answered by Kyle Baxter at 1:59 to make the score 6-5 49ers after three quarters.
Long Beach was able to put the game away on Greenwood's second goal of the day at 4:11 in the fourth quarter. UCI did not score in the fourth quarter.
The victory gives Long Beach State an 11-4 lead in the Black and Blue Rivalry Series sponsored by Duke's of Huntington Beach.
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