Long Beach State University
USC
Beach Drop Conference Opener To No. 3 USC
9/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Los Angeles, Calif. -
Long Beach State could not contain the high-scoring of No. 3 USC, dropping the MPSF Conference Opener 17-9 under the lights.
Ten different players scored for USC, with three recording hat tricks.
The 49ers looked like they could stay close to USC to begin the match after Austin Stevenson scored a penalty shot to even the game at one. The Men of Troy then scored four in a row, including two goals from sophomore Grant Stein to widen the gap at 5-1 with under a minute in the first quarter. The Beach drew a two-man advantage, and Chandler Kaltenbach took advantage to cut the deficit to 5-2 at the end of the first.
LBSU goalie Pavo Ljepopio blocked Stein's attempt for a hat trick at the end of the first quarter, but couldn't stop him in the beginning of the second where Stein scored his third goal of the match at the 6:56 mark to go up 6-2.
The Trojans continued to score in the second, going up 9-2 until freshman Keegan Wicken ended the scoring drought for the Beach with his first goal of the match at the 1:44 mark to make the score 9-3. USC junior Nick Bell scored his second in the match - a quick turn around to go up 10-3, but the 49ers' Lee Griffin snuck one passed the line with just :21 seconds left to end the half just down by six at 10-4.
USC had a pair of goals to start the third quarter, and Wicken scored his second of the match at the 5:16 mark making the score 12-5. Bell scored his third goal of the match, becoming the second Trojan to score a hat trick as USC closed the third quarter with another pair of goals to go up 14-5 over the Beach.
USC had a goalie change to start the fourth - McQuin Baron out and Ben Goncharenko in. With the change came a flurry of goals for LBSU, scoring three in a row. Stevenson started it with his second goal at the 6:35 mark followed by sophomores Duncan Lynde and Lovro Miocevic with their first goals of the match.
The Men of Troy answered with back-to-back goals, the first being Chase Koplow's third goal of the match. Sophomore Jacob Fujioka answered with power play goal at the 2:03 mark that ended the scoring for the Beach.
Ljepopio had six saves for the 49ers while Baron (5) and Goncharenko (4) combined for nine saves for USC.
The Beach fall to 4-5, 0-1 (MPSF Conference) in the season as USC goes up 10-1, 1-0 (MPSF Conference).
LBSU continues conference play as they travel to No. 8 UC Irvine on Saturday, Oct. 3.
BOX SCORE
FINAL RESULTS | |||||||
No. 7 Long Beach State 9, No. 3 USC 17 | |||||||
Uytengsu Aquatics Center · Los Angeles, Calif. · 9/26/15 |
SCORING BY PERIODS
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |||
LBSU | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | ||
USC | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 17 |
Goals:
LBSU - Austin Stevenson 2, Keegan Wicken 2, Lovro Miocevic, Chandler Kaltenbach, Duncan Lynde, Jacob Fujioka, Lee Griffin
USC - Grant Stein 3, Nick Bell 3, Chase Koplow 3, Lazar Pasuljevic 2, Zach D'Sa, Nick Silvers, Mihajlo Milicevic, Mac Carden, Matteo Morelli, Brock Hudnut
Saves:
LBSU - Pavo Ljepopio 6
USC - McQuin Baron 5, Ben Goncharenko 4
Players Mentioned
