Men’s Water Polo Finishes Regular Season With Win At Pepperdine

Saturday, November 14

Malibu, Calif.

5 p.m.

Long Beach State University

17-9, 2-3Big West

No. 15 Pepperdine

11-14, 4-3WCC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Long Beach State	3	6	5	6	20
Pepperdine	6	3	3	3	15

11/14/2026 7:00:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

Gabi Acosta set a career-high with six goals.

By: James Hanson, Assistant Director, Athletic Communications

MALIBU, Calif. – The No. 13 Long Beach State men's water polo team finished the regular season with a 20-15 win over No. 15 Pepperdine at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on Saturday night.

Gabi Acosta paced the Beach as he set a career-high with six goals, and the Beach shot an impressive .588 while holding the Waves to a .455 clip.

Pepperdine (11-14, 4-3 WCC) took a 2-0 lead before Olivér Sudár got Long Beach State (17-9, 2-3 Big West) on the board. Zalán Nagy and Corbin Stanley both scored in the period, but Pepperdine held a 6-3 advantage after the opening eight minutes.

Gabi Acosta and Marc Frigola opened the second period with back-to-back scores to bring Long Beach State within one, but the Waves responded with two goals of their own to retake a three-goal lead halfway through the quarter, 8-5. Acosta then answered with two-straight scores as the Beach closed the quarter on a 4-1 spurt to tie the game 9-all at the break.

The Beach continued their run as Diaz, Acosta and Stanley combined for a three-goal burst to put Long Beach State in front 13-10 with two minutes left in the period. Pepperdine then scored two-straight times before Stanley ended the period with a Beach goal to give them a 14-12 lead with eight minutes left in the game.

Sudár gave the Beach a 16-12 edge as he scored the first two goals of the final period and forced a Pepperdine timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Acosta increased Long Beach State's lead to five as he matched his career-high with his fifth goal of the match. The Waves responded with a goal, but the Beach continued to find the back of the net as they defeated the Waves 20-15 on Saturday night.

OF NOTE

Gabi Acosta set a career-high with six goals as he earned his 10th hat trick of the year.
Acosta now has 187 career goals and is on goal away from entering the top-five on Long Beach State's all-time scoring list.
Marc Frigola now has 261 career points and is second on Long Beach State's all-time points list. Austin Stewart is the all-time points leader with 271 career points.
Corbin Stanley collected his 11th hat trick of the season.
Olivér Sudár tabbed his fifth hat trick of 2026.
Marc Frigola earned his sixth hat trick of the year.
Four Beach players scored at least three goals, and six Long Beach State players scored in the contest.
This was the Beach's eighth victory over a top-20 team this year.
Long Beach State now holds an all-time record of 45-75 against Pepperdine.
The Beach defeated the Waves in both their contests this year.

UP NEXT

Long Beach State will open the Big West Championship against fifth-seeded UC Irvine on Friday, November 20. The opening sprint is set for 10 a.m.
The Beach are hosting the 2026 Big West Championship at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center.