Long Beach State University Athletics
Final Roadtrip Upcoming
4/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
49ers Hit the Road for Final Time FULL STATISTICS LONG BEACH, CA-- No. 10-ranked Long Beach State (11-9, 3-5 MPSF), winners of two in a row, will travel to Northern California for two games, at Pacific (0-15, 0-7 MPSF) on Saturday and to No. 6-ranked California (11-8, 5-3 MPSF) on Sunday. Both games are at noon. LBSU returns home to host the Beach Classic on April 14 and 15, before closing out the regular season at the campus pool with No. 3-ranked UCLA on April 20. The Beach are on a resurgence late in the season, after picking up an 11-9 victory over UC Santa Barbara and a 6-7 overtime win over Arizona State last weekend. LBSU has moved up to 10th nationally following the wins. The 49ers have four conference games remaining, including Hawaii next weekend at the Beach Classic, as they jockey for position for the upcoming Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in Irvine from April 27 to 30. LBSU is currently in 10th place, with just three wins separating eight of the 13 teams. The 49ers are winning because of their defense, especially on opposing 6-on-5's, where opponents are 11 for their last 36 (31 percent). Over the last two games the defense has been even better, as opponents are just 4-for-23 (17 percent). A big reason for the strong play is 2-meter defender Tara Campbell (Montreal), who has also scored in four of the last five games as well. Goalie Kim Hayes (Westminster) had a stellar weekend in net, posting back-to-back 12 save performances as her 136 saves this season is ninth best in a single-season and fifth-best in a career. It was the most saves for Hayes since she had 12 against UC San Diego on February 11. Senior All-American Cassie Azevedo (Long Beach) continues to inch closing to the all-time scoring record, as she comes into the week with 190 goals, 16 behind all-time leader Angelica Garcia (206). Azevedo leads the team with a 51-percent clip from the pool and a team-best 29 steals and 28 assists. Azevedo continues to lead the MPSF in goals per game, with a team-best 40 goals in 16 games. The 49ers, who returned just two starters this season, are beginning to find a balanced scoring attack as Azevedo's 40 goals are followed by Christina Wensman's 30 and Marina Canetti's 25. With the added presence of Campbell, Megan Winchell, Rachelle Denaro and Lindsey Machado, opponents are beginning to have to keep an eye on multiple 49ers. The 49er offense is coming of its highest shooting percentage (55 percent) in a month, when they hit 11-of-20 against UC Santa Barbara. As a team LBSU is shooting 36 percent. |
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