Behind two four-goal efforts from Jeff Greenwood, the No. 10 49ers (9-9) completed play in the SoCal Tournament Sunday, first defeating No. 15 Princeton, but later falling to No. 9 UC Irvine, to place tenth overall.

Long Beach State opened the second day of the annual SoCal Tournament facing off against the No. 15 Princeton Tigers. Greenwood was the star of the game for the 49ers, scoring in every period except the fourth with a game-high four goals. His day started with two goals in the first period, including a 6-on-5 goal with 2:24 left in the quarter. The Tigers tied up the match at 2 with a goal early in the second period, but after another Greenwood goal :20 seconds later, the Beach took a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. Kevin vanHaaster, Pavle Filipovic and Aleksander Petrovic took over scoring duties from Greenwood for the rest of the first half, and the 49ers took a 6-4 lead into halftime.

Greenwood scored his fourth goal of the game to open the third period, and teammate Ash Blythen scored one of his own :25 seconds later. The Tigers cut the 49er lead to 8-5 with 5:29 left in the third period, but two more LBSU goals kept the 49ers ahead going into the fourth period. 49er goalie Derek Weibe-Bailey, who recorded 4 saves in the first three periods, yielded his duties to junior George Alberson for the fourth period, who promptly shut out the Tigers. The Beach nabbed two more goals for themselves, and recorded a 12-6 victory over Princeton.

The morning win against Princeton led the 49ers into a matchup against the No. 9 Anteaters of UC Irvine. Greenwood stepped up again for the 49ers, again scoring four goals in the game. The junior’s efforts weren’t enough to hold off the Anteaters, however. LBSU was outscored 4-2 in the first period, the 49ers’ goals coming from Jake Kinne and Greenwood. Greenwood scored his second goal of the game with 1:26 left in the second period, and the 49ers were down 5-3 going into the half.

UC Irvine scored the first two of the third period, but goals from Kinne and freshman Shane Luth put the 49ers down by only two with 1:25 left in the quarter. The Anteaters were able to respond quickly though, with a 6-on-5 goal to lead 8-5 going into the fourth period.

The significance of the fourth period was not lost on the 49ers, who fought hard to catch up. Greenwood earned his second hat trick of the day with another goal early in the fourth, but was answered by a UC Irvine goal soon after. Greenwood and Kinne scored back-to-back goals late in the game and the 49ers and Anteaters were tied with only :46 seconds left. In dramatic fashion, UC Irvine scored the game winner with :02 seconds left in the game, taking a 10-9 victory from Long Beach State.

With wins over Bucknell and No. 15 Princeton in the SoCal Tournament, the 49ers finished in tenth place overall. Those who placed ahead of LBSU in the tournament also happen to be the nine teams ranked ahead of the 49ers in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s national poll.

After a week of rest, the 49ers will next face the No. 1 Trojans of USC, winners of this weekend’s SoCal Tournament. That game is scheduled to take place Saturday, October 18th at the 49er Campus Pool at 12:00 p.m. PT.  Check back at LBPOSTSports.com for coverage and video highlights of that match.

From LBSU reports