Despite a difficult loss to LMU on Saturday, the 49ers (ranked number five in the nation), got their spirits up and took down the No. 17 Cal Baptist Lancers and the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens in Pomona Sunday afternoon.

In the first game of the afternoon, the Niners faced off against the seventeenth-ranked Lancers, and got off to an early start with a 3-1 lead after the first period. The second quarter was an equal matchup for the two squads, each scoring three goals to go into halftime with a 6-4 advantage to Long Beach. The Niners maintained their lead for the rest of the game, scoring 5 more and allowing only 2 to the Lancers, and the Beach walked away with a 12-6 victory.

The match included two hat tricks for the Beach, coming from juniors Justin Koeppen and Jeff Greenwood. Ash Blythen contributed to the victory with two goals of his own, and Joe Sherrin, Kevin vanHaaster and Aleksander Petrovic each chipped in with one goal apiece. Derek Weibe-Bailey nabbed 12 goalie saves against the Lancers.

In their second game of the afternoon, the Niners matched up against the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer. Long Beach carried its momentum from the first game, wasting no time in taking a 6-2 lead in the first half against the Sagehens. With junior goalie Derek Weibe-Bailey sitting out the game against the Hens, junior George Alberson stepped up to take his place, shutting out Pomona-Pitzer in the second half. The Niners were able to score five more in the half, and finished with an 11-2 victory.

Freshman Jordan Koeppen was the high scorer of the day for the Niners, scoring four in the match against Pomona. Five other 49ers scored in the game, including two each from Jeff Greenwood and Mike Del Grande, and one apiece from Jake Kinne, Pavle Filipovic and Shane Luth.

Next up for the 49ers is their first regular-season home game against UC San Diego. Long Beach is 2-0 against the Tritons this season, beating the host team 11-8 in the UCSD Triton Invite and 10-7 in the NorCal Tournament in Stockton, California last weekend. The match is set for Thursday, October 2nd at 7:00 p.m. PT at the 49er Pool on the campus of Long Beach State.

From reports by LBSU