Men’s Water Polo Earns Split On Opening Day

Saturday, September 3

San Diego, Calif.

8:30 a.m.

Long Beach State University

1-0

Westcliff

0-1

Westcliff

Long Beach State

Photo by: John Fajardo

9/3/2022 5:05:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Beach dispatched Westcliff 23-11 before falling against No. 7 UC Davis.

By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast

LA JOLLA, Calif. – No. 5 Long Beach State split two games on the opening day of the season, winning their first game of the Triton Invitational over Westcliff 23-11 before falling 13-7 to No. 7 UC Davis in the day's second game.

                Long Beach State (1-1) got off to a quick start with a dominant performance against Westcliff. Senior Matt Morris got the scoring started with his 100th career goal, and JJ Loubriel found the net twice in the first quarter as the Beach took an early 7-4 lead over Westcliff (0-1).

                Westcliff cut the lead to 7-4 with the first goal of the second quarter, but Long Beach State rallied to score five unanswered goals to take a 12-5 lead into the half as Loubriel scored his third goal of the game in the closing seconds. The Beach then piled on seven more goals in the third quarter to pull way on the way to the win.

                Advancing to face No. 7 UC Davis (2-0), Long Beach State fell behind early but mounted a comeback effort. The Aggies scored four unanswered goals in the first quarter to take a 4-0 lead and led 5-0 before the Beach bounced back. Garrett Zaan got the Beach on the board, and LBSU pulled to 6-3 before the half.

                Zaan drew first blood in the third quarter and a goal from Garrett Potter with 4:46 remaining in the third brought the Beach back within one goal. A goal from Logan Anderson brought the momentum back in favor of UC Davis, and the Aggies held on to grab the win.

                Long Beach State will play two more games on Sunday to close out the Triton Invitational, opening the day at 8:15 a.m. against No. 8 UC Santa Barbara before playing one final game that afternoon depending on results throughout the tournament.