Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
UC Santa Barbara
Lappas and McConnell Lead Men's Water Polo To Victory Against UCSB
10/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Santa Barbara, Calif. - No. 6 Long Beach State Men's Water Polo defeated their hosts Sunday, topping UC Santa Barbara 14-12. Juniors Dimitrios Lappas and Nolan McConnell each scored 3 goals to lead Long Beach State to a win.
Lappas was the first 49er to score for the team, tying the score 1-1 in the first quarter. After UC Santa Barbara answered back with anther goal, senior Dan Matulis stepped up and threw one in the back of the net. Both junior Zacchary Kappos and senior Ricardo Guimares scored for the team to lead them to a 4-2 score in the second quarter.
The second quarter was dominated by goals with both LBSU and the Gauchos scoring 5 goals each. McConell scored 2 goals along with the help of seniors Devin Mefford, Joey Fabian, and Nick Rascon. The third quarter was the most exciting quarter of the game. The team successfully defended their goal with 3 men against 6 UCSB players. Junior Connor Reilly blocked the shot with his hand to help out defensively. At the end of the quarter, Beach was up 12-9.
The 49ers still continued to demonstrate their defensive skills in the fourth quarter. Goalie, junior Pavo Ljepopio blocked a 5 meter penalty shot to help the 49ers to win the game at 14-12.
The 49ers will play again at the SoCal Tournament in Los Angeles against UC Davis on Oct 11th at 12:15.
UC Santa Barbara - 2, 5, 2, 3 | 12
Long BeachState - 4, 5, 3, 2 | 14
Goals:
UCSB: Cappone 3, Snyder 3, McIlroy, Bailiani, Hauschild, Gaughan, Alkateb, Racich
LBSU: Lappas 3, McConnell 3, Kappos 2, Mefford 2, Guimares, Fabian, Rascon, Matulis
Saves: Whitelegge 5
LBSU: Ljepopio 10
Players Mentioned
