Beach First Half Lead Not Enough To Down Gauchos

Friday, October 26

Santa Barbara, Calif.

3:00 PM

Long Beach State University

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: John Fajardo

10/26/2018 6:07:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

No. 8 Long Beach State led at halftime but fell to No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, 11-7.

By: Antonio Camberos, Athletic Communications Coordinator

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – No. 8 Long Beach State (7-11, 0-2 GCC) had a strong second quarter to put them in the lead at halftime, but were unable to match the second half power of No. 6 UC Santa Barbara (17-8, 2-1 GCC) falling, 11-7. The Gauchos broke the game in by stepping on a 2-0 lead in the early minutes of the first quarter. The Beach would later strike, with junior Austin Stewart, who nailed a penalty shot to put the LBSU on the board for the first time on the day. The goal would serve as a momentum surge for the Beach as they added two more goals to take the lead 3-2 with 3:21 left in the first period. The Gauchos would tie the game back up before quarters end to leave us at 3-3.

In the second quarter, UCSB would strike first to take the lead, but the Beach would respond by tying the game back up at 4-4 with 6:57 left in the second quarter. Later in the same minute, LBSU would score again to put them up by a one goal lead. Midway through the third Long Beach State would score again and have a two goal lead. Gauchos would score to bring them back within one, but the Beach would hit another goal in the closing minutes of the second quarter. The Beach would demonstrate a strong defensive showing by holding onto the lead midway into the third quarter at 7-5, but the Gauchos would take the lead by scoring three straight goals leaving the score at, 8-7 at the end of three. Gauchos would score three more to end the game leaving us with a final of 11-7.

Stewart opened the day for the Beach followed by sophomore Curtis Casper. We had a Garrett Zaan showing today as the freshman has now score in seven consecutive games with his goal in the first quarter. In the second quarter, LBSU would receive help from senior Max Cusator, senior Keegan Wicken, and junior Johnathan Wong. To end things off, freshman Theodoros Pateros would score in the final minutes of the second quarter. Something to take note of, the Beach displayed a well-rounded offensive enigma as they had seven different individuals score seven different goals.

The Beach will look to build off of their strong offensive regime as they travel up north next week to take on Pacific, on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. and San Jose State on Nov. 4 at 12 p.m.