Long Beach State University
Pepperdine
Pepperdine escapes with win over Long Beach State
10/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 29, 2010
Long Beach, Calif. - The No. 8 Long Beach State men's water polo team lost a pivotal Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference match-up 9-8 to No. 10 Pepperdine at 49er Pool on Friday. The win by the Waves (9-11, 1-4) could potentially send them to the MPSF Tournament at the end of the year. The 49ers (7-9, 0-3) must now win at least two of their final five MPSF contests to have a chance at making the tournament. Four of the next five games are against the top four teams in the country.
In only his second game back, Shane Luth notched his first multi-goal game of the year with a two-goal effort against the Waves. Nick Rascon and Alexsandr Petrovic also scored twice each to tie Luth for the team-lead. Taylor Clute and Patrick van der Linde found the back of the cage once apiece. Goalie Matthew Kubeck finished with six saves.
Luth got the 49ers on the board early with a goal just 28 seconds into the contest. Pepperdine's Nathan Castillo answered back with the first of his three goals to tie the game at 1-1. Nick Rascon and Taylor Clute traded the next two goals with the Waves before Castillo and Danny White stretched Pepperdine's lead to 5-3 midway through the second period.
Long Beach State battled back to tie the game at 5-5 with goals by Patrick van der Linde and Alexsandr Petrovic, but before the half, Pepperdine jumped back up by two scores after Castillo recorded his hat trick and Loomis scored his only goal of the game for the Waves.
With 3:56 left to play in the third period, Luth scored his second goal of the night. Then, White found the back of the cage for his third time of the night to put the Waves back on top 8-6.
In the fourth, Rascon and Petrovic scored two big goals to tie the game at 8-8, but Spencer Hamby's score with 4:20 left in the game proved to be the difference. Down the stretch, Long Beach State missed some key opportunities to tie the game up.
The 49ers will try to bounce back this Sunday at 12:00 p.m. when they travel to play No. 3 UCLA in an MPSF conference match-up at Spieker Aquatics Center. Admission is free to the game.
Score By Quarters 1 2 3 4 F
Pepperdine 2 5 1 1 9
Long Beach 2 3 2 1 8
Goals
Pepperdine: Nate Castillo 3, Danny White 3, Colin Carroll, Spencer Hamby, Stephen Loomis
Long Beach: Shane Luth 2, Alexsandr Petrovic 2, Nick Rascon 2, Taylor Clute, Patrick van der Linde
Saves
Pepperdine: Bence Valics 5
Long Beach: Matthew Kubeck 6
