The Long Beach State men’s water polo team led after the first quarter and at halftime, but couldn’t hang on in an upset loss to UC Irvine on Thursday, falling 9-8 in overtime. Kevin Mundia, Taylor Clute, and Aleksandr Petrovic each scored two goals in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at the Anteater Pool.
The 49ers (6-7, 0-2) took an 8-7 lead on a power-play goal by Justin Koeppen with 1:18 left in the first three-minute overtime period but could not hold on for the victory as UCI’s Brandon Johnson connected on an extra-man goal with 1:05 remaining in the second overtime period to lift the Anteaters (10-5, 1-0) past The Beach.
Johnson scored a game-high three goals opener for UCI while Cole Bielskis and Kyle Baxter added two goals each.
Long Beach State jumped out quick on UCI in the “Black & Blue” Rivalry game scoring four goals in the first period to take a 4-2 lead after the first quarter and a 5-4 lead at halftime.
UCI scored the next three goals before the 49ers tied the score on fourth-quarter goals by Kevin Mundia with 6:57 remaining and Aleksandr Petrovic just 50 seconds later.
Derek Wiebe-Bailey led all goalies with a game-high eight saves.
This was the third meeting between the two teams with each team having scored 16 goals against each other going into the game. The 49ers have played in seven games this season decided by one goal winning three.
On Saturday, the 49ers travel to No. 1 USC in an MPSF game at 11 am. The Beach lost to USC in its first game of the season, 12-3.
MPSF Men’s Water Polo
Long Beach State 4 – 1 – 0 – 2 – 1 – 0 — 8
UC Irvine 2 – 2 – 3 – 0 – 0 – 2 — 9
From LBSU reports