California
Long Beach State
11/30/2008 12:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 30, 2008
MALIBU, CALIF. -
The No. 3 ranked Cal men's water polo team (19-9) closed out the season with a 13-9 defeat of No. 8 Long Beach State in the 7th place match of the MPSF Conference Tournament, Sunday, November 30th at the Raleigh Runnels Aquatic Center in Malibu. The Bears were lead by five players who each scored two goals against the 49ers.
The Bears jumped on the board early on a goal by senior captain Frank Reynolds to take a 1-0. On Long Beach State's next possession, Justin Koeppen scored to tie the match at 1-1. Less than a minute later, freshman Ivan Rackov scored to give Cal a 2-1 lead. Neither team would score for the next three minutes. The end of the first period saw each team score twice and trade goals as Cal led 4-3 after the first period.
Midway through the second period, Cal extended its lead to 6-3 on Reynold's and Rackov's second goals of the match. After Rackov's goal, Taylor Clute scored for 49ers to cut the lead to 6-4 with 2:07 remaining in the first half. With 0:55 seconds remaining in the half, Cal junior All-American Spencer Warden notched his second goal of the match to give the Bears a 7-4 lead at the half.
Trailing 7-4 heading into the third period, Long Beach State scored the first three goals of the third period to tie the score at 7-7 with 5:18 remaining in the period. Cal finally got on the board in the second half, when senior captain Trent Calder scored to give the Bears an 8-7 lead. The 49ers answered a minute and a half later to tie the game once again. On its final two possessions of the third period, Cal scored on goals by freshman Charlie Steffens and sophomore Brian Dudley to take a 10-8 lead after three periods.
Entering the fourth period with a 10-8 lead, the Bears extended their lead to 12-8 after sophomore Zach White scored the first two goals of the period. After nearly a four minute scoreless stretch, Cal sophomore Brian Dudley scored to give the Bears a 13-8 lead with 1:30 remaining. Long Beach State's Ashley Blythen scored the final goal of the match to provide the final 13-9 margin.
CALIFORNIA 13, LONG BEACH STATE 9
No. 8 Long Beach State 3 1 4 1 - 9
No. 3 California 4 3 3 3 - 13
Cal Goals: Frank Reynolds 2, Ivan Rackov 2, Spencer Warden 2, Zach White 2, Brian Dudley 2, Cory Nasoff 1,Trent Calder 1, Charles Steffens 1
Long Beach Goals: Justin Koeppin 2, Jeff Greenwood 2, Ashley Blythen 2, Taylor Clute 1, Aleksander Petrovic 1, Jake Kinne 1
Goalie Saves: Wil Toppen (Cal) 7, Derek Wiebe-Bailey (LB) 4
6-on-5: (Cal 7-of-9) (LB 6-of-13)
