After splitting its two games last week the The Beach (4-3) moved from No. 9 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association rankings to No. 7 and will be on the road for its next game Saturday against the No. 8 Pepperdine Waves (3-6).

LAST WEEKEND: The 49ers first faced off against the No. 9 Anteaters of UC Irvine (6-4), Thursday at the Campus Pool. The Beach trailed UCI by one goal with two minutes left in the fourth period, but two straight goals scored by Patrick van der Linde and Justin Koeppen propelled the 49ers to victory. Alexsandr Petrovic and van der Linde each scored two goals to lead the 49ers. Derek Wiebe-Bailey contributed a game-high 8 saves.

The Beach then traveled to the campus of Loyola Marymount (9-2) to take on the No. 5 Lions. LMU scored four unanswered goals in the third quarter after leading 4-2 at halftime to break open a close game. The 49ers got goals from Jeff Greenwood, Taylor Clute, Barry Snyder, Alexsandr Petrovic, and Kevin Mundia.

UP NEXT: The 49ers will travel to Malibu and the Raleigh-Runnels Pool on the campus of the No. 8 Pepperdine Waves for a match Saturday at 11am. It will be the first meeting between the two teams this season. The two teams split matches last season with The Beach winning the first meeting 15-11 and dropping the second match 8-7. Pepperdine has wins against Pacific, Cal Lutheran, and UC San Diego but is currently in the midst of a four game losing streak.

LOOKING AHEAD: After Saturday’s game at Pepperdine, the 49ers will travel to Irvine in hopes of winning the prestigious SoCal Tournament hosted by UC Irvine.

Reports From LBSU