49ers Begin Season Saturday At NorCal
Beach Faces Pacific In First Contest
September 11, 2006 The Record: Long Beach State kicks off its 2006 season under first year head coach Gavin Arroyo this weekend at the NorCal Tournament in Stanford. The first game for the 49ers will be against the University of the Pacific at 9:50 am at the Avery Stadium Pool. The 49ers were 17-18 last season and finished in eighth place in the MPSF at 1-7.
The Coach: Gavin Arroyo (California ‘94) is in his first year as the head coach at Long Beach State. Arroyo spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Cal and was an eight-year member of the U.S. National Team (1993-2000), competing in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.
The Series: The 49ers lead in their series with Pacific by a 45-18 margin. Last year the 49ers were 1-1 vs. the Tigers. Long Beach won 9-7 at the SoCal Tournament and the Tigers won 7-5 in Stockton in an MPSF league contest.
Pre-Season Poll: The MPSF men's water polo coaches released their pre-season poll on August 21 and the 49ers were picked to finish in ninth place. USC was picked to win the 2006 league title followed by California, UCLA, Stanford, Pepperdine, Pacific, UC Irvine and UCSB.
NorCal Tournament: The 49ers begin play in Bracket D or the NorCal Invitational. Also in the bracket are Stanford, Pacific and Navy. The 49ers take on Pacific in their first contest on Saturday at 9:50 am. If they win they play at 3:10 pm vs. the Stanford/Navy winner. If they lose, they they play the Stanford/Navy loser at 1:50 pm. The tournament continues with two games for each team on Sunday. The top-seeded teams in each bracket are Cal, USC, UCLA and Stanford.
Alumni Game: The 49ers hosted their Alumni Team this past Saturday and came away with a 13-8 win. Jeff Greenwood, Eric Benson, Nick Korsgaden, Greg Henneman and Josip Kukuruzar all scored two goals for the 49ers. In goal, Steve MacKenzie had four goalie saves and allowed just two goals, playing the first half, while Tyler Anderson recorded six saves in the second half.
Pacific Facts: The Tigers are 6-2 overall and ranked No. 8 in the country in the latest poll. Last weekend they won all four games at the Princeton Invitational defeating George Washington (12-7), Princeton (16-15), Queens College (23-3) and Iona (18-7). The Tigers two losses this season have come to Pepperdine (14-7) and Cal (20-8) at the UC San Diego Invitational.
Jay Gerardi: Senior All-American Jay Gerardi (Long Beach) leads the 49ers this season after finishing second on the team in 2005 with 61 goals. Gerardi, a third team All-MPSF pick last year, is the top returning scorer for Long Beach State. He currently ranks No. 21 all-time at LBSU with 99 career goals. Besides being a scoring threat, Gerardi led the team with 43 assists last year and recorded 19 steals. Gerardi's 61 goals tied for sixth in the MPSF last year.
Joe Sherrin: Sophomore Joe Sherrin (Cypress) played in all 35 games last season, starting 32 times. A defensive stalwart, Sherrin recorded 13 goals on the year, adding 12 assists and 14 steals. Sherrin will be the defensive leader this year for the 49ers.
Kevin Bradley: Senior Kevin Bradley (Long Beach) enters his season year at The Beach. Bradley played in all 35 games last year, earning 10 starts. He finished the season with 12 goals, scoring twice against Air Force and UC Davis. He is one of just three returnees who have started a game in the 49er careers (Gerardi, Sherrin are the others).
Reid Tomassi: Tomassi will redshirt the 2006 season due to injury. The senior out of Winter Park, FL scored 34 goals last season and currently ranks No. 11 all-time at LBSU with 126 career goals.
In Goal: The 49ers will look to junior Steve MacKenzie (Walnut Creek) to anchor the cage this season. MacKenzie spent two years at Diablo Valley College where he was a two-time first team all-league selection and a two-time All-American. He takes over for three-plus year starter Thomas Onyshko. Onyshko concluded his 49er career last year as the school's career leader in saves with 846.
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