Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers open 2010 water polo season at UC Irvine Tournament
9/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 3, 2010
Long Beach, Calif. -
Long Beach State men's water polo begins the 2010 season this Saturday at 11:30 a.m., when it takes on Whittier College at the UC Irvine Tournament. In their second game of the tournament, the 49ers will take on Fresno Pacific on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. All matches will be played at Anteater Pool in Irvine, Calif. - Admission is free and parking is $10.
The men's water polo team will also take part in scrimmages against three Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Top 10 preseason picks. On Saturday, No. 9 Long Beach State will face No. 3 Stanford at 3:10 p.m., and on Sunday, the 49ers will square-off against No. 5 UC Irvine at 3:10 p.m. and No. 4 USC at 6:10 p.m.
"The focus this weekend will be on ourselves," men's water polo head coach Gavin Arroyo said. "We'll be very critical of what we're doing. If we do what we're supposed to do, the results should be good."
The UC Irvine Tournament has been good to Long Beach State over the years. When the 49ers jump into the pool this Saturday, it will mark their 18th appearance. Over the years, The Beach has compiled an impressive 46-30 record since 1975, including a 2-2 showing in 2009 after a 17-year absence.
Series History
This will mark the first time that Long Beach State and Fresno Pacific face-off in men's water polo, and only the third time the 49ers go head-to-head with Whittier College. The Beach won both previous meetings against the Poets, most recently in 2005 with a 15-10 win at Whittier. The 49ers won 16-8 in the first meeting between the two squads back in 1997 at the Air Force Tournament.
The Beach will open the season against a Whittier College team that ended 2009 ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III poll. The Poets are the preseason No. 3 team in that same poll for 2010. Whittier returns four seniors, but the departure of team captain Chris Villanueva, along with the loss of All-America goaltender Casey Regehr, may be too much for the Poets to overcome in this season opening matchup. Look for the 49ers attack to push the action early and often in this one. Long Beach State will scrimmage Stanford at 3:10 p.m.
Long Beach State will face Fresno Pacific in its second game on day two of the UC Irvine Tournament. In 2009, the Sunbirds finished with a winning record at 14-13. With eight seniors returning, Fresno Pacific will be looking to build on its success from last year. If the Sunbirds can slow down the 49ers attack, it could turn out to be a good early season test for both squads.
What to Watch for in 2010
After losing five seniors from last year's squad, Arroyo will need his juniors to step up and shoulder the load in 2010.
Luckily for him, one of those juniors happens to be last year's leading scorer - Alexsandr Petrovic. With 35 goals in 21 games, Petrovic emerged as one of the 49ers top players, and was named honorable mention All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for his efforts, but he wasn't the only underclassman to see significant playing time in 2009. Fellow juniors, Jordan Koeppen (10 goals), Shane Luth(9 goals) and Taylor Clute (11 goals) each played in all 21 games as well, along with this year's lone senior, Patrick van der Linde (8 goals). That makes it five of the top eight scorers from last year, returning to help power the 49ers offensive attack.
"We definitely have guys who can score," Arroyo said. "We have our leading scorer [Petrovic] returning, Taylor Clute's had a real good summer, and Shane Luth's been doing well."
Some other key returners to watch out for this season are sophomores Carter Taylor (6 goals in 18 games), and Matt Kubeck who will be taking over in goal this season.
In addition to The Beach's returning talent, the future looks shiny and bright for the 49ers after signing one of the nations best recruiting classes, and possibly the best in the history of the program. For the first time in school history, Long Beach State signed the nations top recruit - Nick Rascon - as well as seven other highly sought after freshmen, including 6-foot-11 Dan Matulis from Ohio. Matulis was named first-team All-Ohio 2007-08 and led his team to a state title his junior year.
At El Toro High, Rascon was named CIF Division I co-player of the year and first team All-America. He was also a member of the 2009 junior national team. Arroyo doesn't think it will take Rascon long to make an impact.
"I think there might be a little bit of a transition with our style of play, but I see him excelling in our system," Arroyo said.
The 49ers will face the top nine MPSF schools on their 2010 schedule. Next up for The Beach after the UC Irvine Tournament is a match against USC on September 11 at 3 p.m. at USC.
