Long Beach State University Athletics
No. 7 Water Polo Finishes Regular Season Against UCI Saturday
11/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 20, 2008
LONG BEACH, Calif.--
THIS WEEKEND: No. 7 Long Beach State (13-15, 1-6) will host the No. 10 Anteaters Saturday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. at the 49er Campus Pool. The game, the last of the regular season, will determine the 49ers' seeding in the MPSF Tournament next weekend. Saturday's matchup is the second of the season for LBSU and UCI; the 'Eaters defeated the Beach 12-9 Oct. 22 in Irvine.
LONG BEACH STATE IN THE POLLS: The 49ers jumped three spots in the national poll this week, moving from tenth to seventh. The Beach bypassed MPSF conference rivals UC Irvine, though the squads are still tied in conference rankings.
LAST WEEKEND: The Beach went 2-1 last weekend, including Thursday night's upset over then-No. 6 LMU. Long Beach State was able to hold off a charge by the Lions in the fourth quarter to even the series with LMU and go 2-2 against the Lions this season.
The 49ers weren't so lucky against the fourth-ranked Cal Bears, whose last-minute surge forced overtime, the second of the season for LBSU. The teams traded dramatic goals in the first and second overtime periods, but California's sudden victory goal allowed the Golden Bears to head back to Berkeley with a 13-12 victory, avoiding the upset.
Sunday's game against No. 18 Pacific didn't include the dramatics of the 49ers' previous two games; the Beach took the early 1-0 lead against the Tigers and never looked back. Eight different 49ers scored in the game, including three goals from senior Pavle Filipovic.
SENIOR DAY: This weekend's MPSF matchup against the Anteaters will also be the last home game for five 49ers, including: Ashley Blythen, Jake Kinne, Mike Del Grande, Pavle Filipovic and Kevin vanHaaster. Blythen and Kinne both have 36 goals so far this season, and vanHaaster isn't far behind with 32. Filipovic and Del Grande have made their mark on the season as well, Filipovic with 17 goals and Del Grande with 6.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE MPSF TOURNAMENT: Because Long Beach State and Irvine are currently tied in their conference records (both are 1-6 in MPSF play), Saturday's match is an important one for both squads, as it will determine tournament seeding. Saturday afternoon's winning team will be seeded seventh, the loser eighth. Only the No. 1 ranked USC Trojans (24-0, 8-0) have secured their spot in the Tournament; this weekend will be an interesting one all around the conference.
