Long Beach State University
Redlands
49ers Kick Off 2008 Campaign with Pair of Victories
9/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 6, 2008
LA JOLLA, Calif. - No. 9 Long Beach State (2-0) picked up its first two wins of the 2008 season Saturday at the UCSD Triton Invitational with victories over the University of Redlands Bulldogs and the host No. 14 UCSD Tritons.
The 49ers made their presence known in their morning win over Redlands (0-2) with a convincing 16-7 victory. Eleven different Niners scored goals in the game, including five players with two goals each. In the afternoon game, The Tritons (1-1) scored first, but Long Beach was able to rally to beat the host squad 11-8.
In their first match of the season, Ash Blythen gave the Niners 1-0 lead only 25 seconds into the game and Long Beach never looked back. The 49ers had a 7-1 lead after the first quarter, and went into halftime leading Redlands 9-2. Long Beach tacked on seven more goals in the second half, while holding the Bulldogs to only six.
The 49ers shared the goal-scoring wealth against the Bulldogs, as 16 goals were scored by eleven different squad members. Jake Kinne, Justin Koeppen, Jeff Greenwood, Matt Farrington and Shane Luth each scored two goals. Saturday morning's game was the first as a 49er for Luth, a true freshman out of Huntington Beach, Calif. One goal each were scored by Pavle Filipovic, Kevin vanHaaster, Joe Sherrin, Mike Del Grande, Thomas Dawson and Ash Blythen. Goalie Derek Wiebe-Bailey did his part to help his squad, saving eleven goals.
In the second game of the day, the UCSD Tritons scored first, but the Niners went on a 3-0 run to take the lead. The Tritons scored two more goals in the first half and the 49ers went into halftime ahead 4-3. The second half started much the same way as the first, with UCSD scoring the opening goal followed by yet another 3-0 run by Long Beach. Goals were swapped throughout the second half, but 9th-ranked Long Beach was able to hold on to an 11-8 victory over the 14th-ranked Tritons.
In the afternoon game, vanHaaster scored a game-high three goals, but Kinne, Filipovic, Justin Koppen and Blythen each contributed two of their own. Wiebe-Bailey held the Tritons to only eight goals, saving twelve.
Long Beach takes on Pepperdine, Sunday, at 11:30 a.m. PT as play in the UCSD Triton Invitational continues. Pepperdine (2-0) defeated Pomona and UC Davis in their first two games of the tournament Saturday.
WATER POLO | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | F | RECORDS |
| Redlands | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 0-1 | |
| Long Beach St. | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 1-0 | |
| Goals: Jake Kinne-2, Justin Koeppen-2, Jeff Greenwood-2, Shane Luth-2, Matt Farrington-2, Pavle Filipovic-1, Joe Sherrin-1, Del Grande-1, Thomas Dawson-1, Ash Blythen-1, Kevin vanHaaster-1 | |||||||
| GOALIE SAVES: LBSU: Derek Wiebe-Bailey-11 | |||||||
WATER POLO | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | F | RECORDS |
| UCSD | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 1-1 | |
| Long Beach St. | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 2-0 | |
| Goals: Kevin vanHaaster-3, Jake Kinne-2, Pavle Filipovic-2, Justin Koeppen-2, Ash Blythen-2 | |||||||
| GOALIE SAVES: LBSU: Derek Wiebe-Bailey-12 | |||||||
