No. 7 Men’s Water Polo Dominant On Opening Day

Friday, August 28

La Jolla, Calif.

10:50 a.m.

Long Beach State University

McKendree

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Bucknell	4	5	4	2	15
Long Beach State	8	5	9	6	28

8/28/2026 5:56:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

Long Beach State rolled to two big wins over McKendree and Bucknell at the Triton Invite.

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

LA JOLLA, Calif. – No. 7 Long Beach State Men's Water Polo did not disappoint in the first day of the season, rolling to two big wins over McKendree and Bucknell on Friday at the Triton Invite.

Long Beach State (2-0) started the season with a 28-9 win over McKendree, even as the Beach gave reigning Big West Player of the Year Gabi Acosta the day off. Junior Keegan Moore and freshman Jacob Duong both had four goals to lead the way for the Beach.

McKendree (0-1) scored the first goal of the day, but Long Beach State roared back with six unanswered in the first quarter to take a 6-1 lead, and then scored ten more in the second quarter to lead at the half 16-6. The Beach then outscored McKendree 12-3 in the second half to continue their excellent performance in their first win of the tournament and the season.

In the afternoon, the Beach put on another offensive showcase against Bucknell (0-2). Scoring 28 goals for the second straight match, Long Beach State was led by Corbin Stanley and Federico Gulisano, who each scored six goals to tie for a new season-high in the 28-15 win.

The match was reasonable close early, with a Jack Dillane goal pulling Bucknell within one goal at 5-4 with just over two minutes to play in the first quarter. The Beach would respond by scoring six unanswered, capped by a Gulisano goal just after the start of the second quarter to establish control.

Leading by four at halftime, Long Beach State pushed out to a larger lead in the third quarter with a 9-4 edge in the period, and then with Sergi Ramon taking over in goal, LBSU held Bucknell to just two goals in the fourth on the way to closing out the 13-goal win.

The Triton Invite continues on Saturday with two more matches for Long Beach State. The Beach will start against Mercyhurst at 8:30 a.m. before taking on No. 20 Saint Mary's in the team's first ranked matchup of 2026 at 1:20 p.m.