Thursday, October 20
Long Beach, Calif.
5 p.m.
Long Beach State University
vs
California
Men’s Water Polo Hosts No. 2 Cal As Final Homestand Begins
10/19/2022 3:59:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
No. 6 Long Beach State will take on Cal at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State host No. 2 Cal at an early hour, taking on the Golden Bears at 5 p.m. this Thursday at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center, with live coverage provided on ESPN+.
No. 6 Long Beach State (16-6) is coming off of a strong weekend of competition, having gone to the East Coast for the first time since 2004 to compete and take part in the Harvard Tournament. While in New England, the Beach took down a pair of ranked opponents in No. 20 St. Francis-Brooklyn and the co-hosts No. 14 Harvard as well as picking up wins against Salem and at Brown.
The Beach had a different leading scorer in each contest as the team's scoring continues to be very balanced. Rafael Real Vergara leads the way with 44 goals on the season, but eight players in total have scored over 20 goals in the team's 22 games coming into Thursday.
In the closest contest of the weekend against the Terriers of St. Francis-Brooklyn, the Beach relied on a steady performance from senior Garrett Zaan to pick up an 11-9 win. Zaan had three against Harvard as well, as did sophomore Connor Mannion on the way to a 15-9 victory. The Beach then dominated Salem in Providence, setting up the final game of the weekend where Vergara had a clutch first half, ultimately scoring six goals as the Beach won at Brown 11-8.
No. 2 Cal (14-1) has been one of the top teams in the nation this season. Aside from a close loss against Stanford on the road at the MPSF Invite, the Golden Bears are unbeaten on the year, boasting a pair wins over USC as well as four wins so far this year against Golden Coast Conference opposition leading into Thursday. Nikolaos Papanikolaou and Roberto Valera are leading the way in for the Golden Bears with 31 and 30 goals respectively on the year.
Thursday marks the penultimate home game of the season for Long Beach State, who will host their annual senior night at the team's next match when the Beach takes on No. 3 Stanford at 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 12.
No. 6 Long Beach State (16-6) is coming off of a strong weekend of competition, having gone to the East Coast for the first time since 2004 to compete and take part in the Harvard Tournament. While in New England, the Beach took down a pair of ranked opponents in No. 20 St. Francis-Brooklyn and the co-hosts No. 14 Harvard as well as picking up wins against Salem and at Brown.
The Beach had a different leading scorer in each contest as the team's scoring continues to be very balanced. Rafael Real Vergara leads the way with 44 goals on the season, but eight players in total have scored over 20 goals in the team's 22 games coming into Thursday.
In the closest contest of the weekend against the Terriers of St. Francis-Brooklyn, the Beach relied on a steady performance from senior Garrett Zaan to pick up an 11-9 win. Zaan had three against Harvard as well, as did sophomore Connor Mannion on the way to a 15-9 victory. The Beach then dominated Salem in Providence, setting up the final game of the weekend where Vergara had a clutch first half, ultimately scoring six goals as the Beach won at Brown 11-8.
No. 2 Cal (14-1) has been one of the top teams in the nation this season. Aside from a close loss against Stanford on the road at the MPSF Invite, the Golden Bears are unbeaten on the year, boasting a pair wins over USC as well as four wins so far this year against Golden Coast Conference opposition leading into Thursday. Nikolaos Papanikolaou and Roberto Valera are leading the way in for the Golden Bears with 31 and 30 goals respectively on the year.
Thursday marks the penultimate home game of the season for Long Beach State, who will host their annual senior night at the team's next match when the Beach takes on No. 3 Stanford at 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 12.
Players Mentioned
Attacker
/ Men's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Men's Water Polo
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