No. 9 Beach Set For Two Ranked Contests This Weekend - Long Beach State University Athletics

Friday, October 23

Long Beach, Calif.

3 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Stanford

10/22/2026 2:54:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Long Beach State Hosts No. 2 Stanford and travels to No. 12 UCSB for a Big West Showdown.

By: James Hanson, Assistant Director, Athletic Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 9 Long Beach State men's water polo team hosts No. 2 Stanford before continuing Big West play on the road at No. 12 UC Santa Barbara.

Long Beach State enters the weekend with a 15-5 record following a dominant 2-0 weekend at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center. Long Beach State first cruised to a 20-7 victory over Cal State Fullerton in Big West play on Friday night before collecting a convincing 24-10 win over Chapman the following afternoon.

SCHEDULE
Friday, October 23

No. 9 Long Beach State (15-5, 1-1 Big West) vs. No. 2 Stanford (13-2, 2-1 MPSF) | 3 p.m. | LIVE STATS | TICKETS | Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center

Saturday, October 24

No. 9 Long Beach State (15-5, 1-1 Big West) at No. 12 UC Santa Barbara (19-9, 1-1 Big West) | Noon | ESPN+ | LIVE STATS | Santa Barbara High School

SERIES HISTORY

Long Beach State is 10-77-1 all-time against Stanford.
The Beach fell to the Cardinal 17-13 earlier this season and have lost six straight contests.
Long Beach State's last win against Stanford came at the Triton Invitational in 2023 as the Beach defeated the No. 4 Cardinal 12-10.
The Beach are 58-51 all-time against the Gauchos.
Long Beach State downed UC Santa Barbara 16-9 earlier this year.
The Beach have won the last two contests against the Gauchos.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

Stanford enters the contest ranked No. 2 in the country with a 13-2 record.
12 of the Cardinal's 13 wins have come against ranked opponents, and they defeated the two-time defending national champions, UCLA, 19-15 earlier this season.
UC Santa Barbara is ranked No. 12 and holds a 19-9 record and 1-1 mark in the Big West.
The Gauchos fell 14-12 to California Baptist in their conference opener before earning a 14-8 win over UC San Diego last week.

MILESTONES

Gabi Acosta has 172 career goals and ranks 11th on Long Beach State's all-time scoring list. He's two goals away from entering the top-10 in the record book.
William Whitstone has 492 career saves and is eight away from 500.

RANKED VICTORIES

The Beach have collected six victories over top-20 teams during the 2026 campaign.
Long Beach State defeated No. 8 Pepperdine at the Triton Invitational and No. 9 UC San Diego at the MPSF Invitational.
Other top-20 victories include wins over No. 11 San Jose State, No. 14 UC Santa Barbara, No. 20 Saint Mary's and No. 20 Concordia Irvine.

BEACH LEADERS

Preseason All-Big West selection Corbin Stanley leads the team with 52 goals and 69 points and was named to the Cutino Award Watch List.
Gabi Acosta paces the squad with a .690 shooting percentage and has tallied 40 goals. *(minimum 25 shots taken)
Olivér Sudár leads the team with 40 assists and has also netted 24 goals on a .615 shooting percentage.
Federico Gulisano is second on the team with 48 goals and was named the Big West Player of the Week on September 23 after his 15 goals at the MPSF Invitational.
13 total players have 10 or more goals this season.
William Whitstone leads the Beach with 96 saves, while Sergi Ramon has collected 68 saves.

AMONG THE BIG WEST

Olivér Sudár is second in the Big West in assists (43) and assists per game (2.3). He also ranks in the top-10 in points (67).
Corbin Stanley is second in the league in goals per game (2.6), while he ranks fourth in goals (52), points (73) and points per game (2.6).
Federico Gulisano is third in the conference in goals per game (2.5) and in the top-10 in goals (48), points (68), points per game (3.6) and sprint wins (18).
Marc Frigola is third in the Big West in assists per game (1.5), and in the top-10 in points (66), assists (30), goals per game (1.8), points per game (3.3) and field blocks (7).
William Whitstone is fifth in the league in saves (96).

AWARDS

The Beach have collected two Big West Player of the Week awards.
Corbin Stanley earned the honor after scoring 21 goals at the Triton Invitational during the opening weekend.
Federico Gulisano collected the award following his 15 goals at the MPSF Invitational.

LAST TIME OUT

Long Beach State earned its first Big West win of the year as the Beach went 2-0 at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center last weekend.
Long Beach State first cruised to a dominant 20-7 home victory over Cal State Fullerton in Big West play on Friday night before collecting a convincing 24-10 win over Chapman at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center on Saturday afternoon.
Marc Frigola scored a game-high four goals in each contest as he led all scorers in both games.

FAN INFO

Links to live stats for both games can be found on the men's water polo team's schedule page on longbeachstate.com.
A link to purchase tickets to Friday's game against Stanford can be found here and on the men's water polo team's schedule page on longbeachstate.com.
Saturday's contest against UC Santa Barbara will be played at Santa Barbara High School and can be streamed on ESPN+. Admission is free and open to all fans until the venue capacity of 250 is reached. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to secure parking and entry to the contest.

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