Beach Pushes Stanford, Defeats San Jose State To Reach Fifth-Place Game

Saturday, September 19

Stanford, Calif.

12:20 p.m.

Long Beach State University

7-2

No. 3 Stanford

7-0

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Long Beach State	3	1	5	4	13
Stanford	4	4	4	5	17

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
San Jose State	4	2	2	3	11
Long Beach State	6	4	3	4	17

Beach Pushes Stanford, Defeats San Jose State To Reach Fifth-Place Game

9/19/2026 6:55:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Men’s Water Polo will play their last game of the MPSF Invite against UC San Diego.

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

STANFORD, Calif. – Long Beach State Men's Water Polo threatened to pull off a major upset on the road, but came up just short against No. 3 Stanford. Bouncing back, the Beach put together a solid win over San Jose State to finish Saturday at the MPSF Invite.

Long Beach State (8-2) pushed No. 3 Stanford (7-0) to the edge in the opening game of the day. Both teams started off hot, as the first six possessions all led to goals in a 3-3 start to the contest. Stanford was able to get the edge before the end of the quarter, as a Ryan Ohl goal on the power play gave the Cardinal a 4-3 lead after one.

The second quarter proved to make the difference. Another Ohl goal made the score 5-3, and after a Zalan Nagy answer, the Cardinal scored three goals unanswered to end the first half leading 8-4. Scoring the first goal of the second half, Stanford would take their largest lead of the game at 11-5 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter, but the Beach battled back.

Two quick goals from Nagy and Federico Gulisano cut the lead to 11-7, and the Beach kept pushing, scoring the first goal of the fourth to pull within two at 12-10 with over seven minutes to play.

Gulisano's fourth goal of the day made the lead just two once more for Stanford at 14-12, but an Ohl answer helped the Cardinal pull away and hold on for the 17-13 win, setting up the tournament's third game against San Jose State (5-5).

The Spartans jumped out to an early lead in the contest with two quick goals, but the Beach quickly pulled things back with goals from Corbin Stanley and Zalan Nagy. Tied at 4-4, Artur Diaz and Stanley pushed the Beach out in front just before the end of the first quarter for the Beach. Long Beach State then pulled the same trick just before the half, grabbing goals from Acosta and Nagy to close the second and give the Beach a 4-0 lead.

With a comfortable advantage, Long Beach State carried the momentum the rest of the way, outscoring the Spartans in both the third and fourth quarters on the way to a 17-11 victory. Gulisano and Acosta shared the scoring honors for LBSU with four goals each against San Jose State.

With the win over the Spartans, Long Beach State advances into the fifth-place game, where they will face a Big West rival in No. 9 UC San Diego to close out the tournament. Action in that game is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. from Stanford.