Long Beach State University
UC Irvine
49ers Drop Heartbreaker To UCI
2/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 19, 2008
IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine senior Colin Mello scored with 19 seconds left in regulation to lift ninth-ranked UC Irvine to a 7-6 win over sixth-ranked Long Beach State on Friday evening in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) game at Anteater Pool. The win lifts UCI to 9-7overall and 2-1 in the MPSF, while the 49ers fall to 13-7 overall and 0-2 in league action.
Coming out of a timeout with 33 seconds left, Mello's skip shot from the right side provided the Anteaters with the winning tally. The 49ers, who trailed the entire game, tied the game at 6-6 with 33 seconds left on Jeff Greenwood's second goal of the night. Junior Ash Blythen led Long Beach with a career-high three goals. Jake Kinne added the other 49er tally. Mello, Tim Hutten and Cole Bitter each scored twice for UCI.
Long Beach trailed 5-2 at the half but gradually closed the gap, scoring four second half goals. 49er goalie Steve MacKenzie had another solid outing finishing with 13 goalie saves. Matt Garcia recorded 10 for the Anteaters.
Long Beach will next be in action on Sunday, October 21 at the Campus Pool as they take on Stanford (12 pm) and UC Davis (4 pm).
