Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
15-8, 1-3
No. 9 UC Irvine
17-7, 2-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Irvine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Long Beach State | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 12 |
11/6/2026 8:30:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
Gabi Acosta scored a game-high four goals on Friday night.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 12 Long Beach State men's water polo team earned a 12-10 win over No. 9 UC Irvine at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center on Friday night.
Gabi Acosta paced the Beach as he led all scorers with four goals. Additionally, the Beach shot .375 from the field while holding the Anteaters to a .303 clip.
Long Beach State (15-8, 1-3 Big West) took a quick 3-0 advantage and forced a UC Irvine (17-7, 2-2 Big West) timeout halfway through the first quarter as Olivér Sudár, Artur Diaz and Gabi Acosta scored the first three goals of the game. The Anteaters responded with a goal out of the timeout, but Zalán Nagy added his name to the stat sheet and gave the Beach a 4-1 advantage after the first eight minutes.
Sudár gave Long Beach State a four-goal advantage before UC Irvine scored back-to-back times to make it a 5-3 game in favor of the Beach. From there, Nagy and Acosta combined for three-consecutive scores to propel the Beach to an 8-3 advantage at the break.
The Beach continued to find success as they outscored the Anteaters 4-3 in the third period and took a commanding 12-6 lead into the final eight minutes. Sudár, Acosta, Nagy and Diaz all found the back of the cage for the Beach in the third period.
UC Irvine scored four goals in the final stanza, but Long Beach State's lead proved too much as the Beach defeated the Anteaters 12-10 on Friday night.
OF NOTE
- Olivér Sudár tabbed a game-high seven points with three goals and four assists as he earned his fourth hat trick of 2026.
- Gabi Acosta tallied his ninth hat trick of the season as he led all scorers with four goals. He now has 180 career goals and is sixth on Long Beach State's all-time scoring list.
- Senior William Whitstone collected 12 saves in goal.
- Four Beach players scored in the contest, and they all scored multiple times.
- Long Beach State is now 46-80-1 in the all-time series with UC Irvine.
- The Beach have won nine of the last 10 matchups between the two schools.
UP NEXT
- Long Beach State will finish the regular season with a pair of road contests next week.
- The Beach will face No. 10 LMU on Thursday, November 12 before playing at No. 16 Pepperdine on Saturday, November 14.
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
Oliver Sudar
6:42
Artur Diaz
4:10
Gabi Acosta
3:55
Johann Thrall
1:51
Zalan Nagy
1:28
Oliver Sudar
6:42
Brody Luke
4:47
Charlie Jones
3:05
Zalan Nagy
2:26
Gabi Acosta
1:08
Gabi Acosta
0:04
Brody Luke
7:31
Oliver Sudar
5:42
Alex Lopez
5:13
Gabi Acosta
4:49
Zalan Nagy
3:26
Ryan Fresca
2:10
Artur Diaz
1:48
Gage Verdegaal
6:11
Alex Lopez
5:22
Jayson Hubbard
4:12
Alex Lopez
0:01
