Beach Push No. 2 Stanford To Overtime - Long Beach State University Athletics

Friday, October 23

Long Beach, Calif.

3 p.m.

Long Beach State University

15-6, 1-1

No. 2 Stanford

14-2, 2-1

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	OT	Final F
Stanford	5	1	4	5	1	2	18
Long Beach State	2	3	4	6	0	0	15

Photo by: Ema Nathan

10/23/2026 5:35:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

Federico Gulisano scored seven goals in the overtime loss to the No. 2 Cardinal.

By: James Hanson, Assistant Director, Athletic Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 9 Long Beach State men's water polo team pushed No. 2 Stanford to overtime but came up just short as the Beach fell 18-15 at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center on Friday afternoon.

Against No. 2 Stanford, Federico Gulisano matched his season-best as he led all scorers with seven goals in the contest.

After Stanford (14-2, 2-1 MPSF) scored the first three goals of the game, a pair of power play goals from Corbin Stanley and Gabi Acosta got Long Beach State (15-6, 1-1 Big West) on the board, however, the Cardinal took a 5-2 advantage into the second period.

Flipping the script in the second quarter, Gulisano netted two goals, while Zalán Nagy added a goal of his own and William Whitstone made four saves as the Beach won the period 3-1 and pulled within one at the break, 6-5.

The Cardinal increased their lead to two, but two-straight goals from Gulisano tied the contest 7-all with five minutes left in the third period. A penalty goal from the Cardinal gave them the lead right back, but Harper Stewart responded to tie the game before Gulisano netted his fifth goal of the contest to give the Beach their first lead, 9-8. Stanford closed the third quarter with a pair of goals to take a 10-9 edge into the final period.

The Cardinal pushed their advantage to three with the first two goals of the fourth quarter, but back-to-back scores from Nagy and Gulisano brought the beach back within one with three minutes left to play. After Stanford took a 15-13 lead, Gabi Acosta netted a goal with 41 seconds left before the Beach made a stop to give themselves a chance to tie the contest. With the clock ticking down, Corbin Stanley drew a five-meter penalty, and Gulisano tied his season-high with his seventh score of the game to send it into overtime.

Gulisano picked up his third exclusion of the contest, while the Cardinal scored the lone goal of the first overtime period to take a 16-15 lead into the last three minutes.

The Cardinal scored on the first possession of the next stanza to take a 17-15 lead with 2:33 left to play. Though Long Beach State had multiple scoring opportunities, the Beach were held scoreless in overtime, and the Cardinal won the contest 18-15 on Friday afternoon.

OF NOTE

Federico Gulisano led all scorers as he matched his season-best with seven goals and earned his 10th hat trick of the year.
Harper Stewart earned his fourth hat trick of the year.
William Whitstone tallied 13 saves and collected his 500th career save on Friday afternoon.
Gabi Acosta has 174 career goals and is now tied for 10th on Long Beach State's all-time scoring list.
Long Beach State is now 10-78-1 all-time against Stanford.
Stanford went a perfect 5-for-5 on penalty attempts, while both squads converted on four of their power plays.

UP NEXT

Long Beach State heads to Santa Barbara for a Big West showdown with the No. 12 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos tomorrow afternoon. First sprint is set for 12 p.m., and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
A link to the stream as well as live stats can be found on the men's water team's schedule page on longbeachstate.com.