On Friday, Oct. 18, No. 7 UC San Diego men’s water polo (16-7, 0-2 Big West) came up short in a close 14-12 battle against No. 10 Long Beach State (12-7, 2-0 Big West) at Canyonview Aquatic Center. The Beach outscored the Tritons 6-1 in a poor second quarter that proved decisive in LBSU’s victory. This is the second match UCSD has dropped after a seven-game win streak.
“We wanted to come back [after the loss],” senior utility player Eamon Hennessey said to The UCSD Guardian in a postgame interview. “We obviously didn’t want to lose, and Long Beach State beat us in the finals last year, so it was personal — a lot of it — and we didn’t perform.”
The Tritons opened the scoring in the second minute. A lob from senior utility player Brendon Fezzey found freshman attacker Jackson Boettner, who easily converted from close range for the score. UCSD scored on consecutive power plays in its next two possessions, taking an early 3-0 lead. Beach junior attacker Caleb Francisco answered with two goals of his own, cutting the Tritons’ lead to 4-2.
UCSD’s wheels fell off in the second quarter. A Hennessey score initially extended the Triton advantage, but two quick Beach goals cut the lead to one. With five minutes left in the half, LBSU graduate student defender Jason O’Donnell notched the game-tying blow, sending a long-range effort that crashed off the crossbar and into the goal. Two possessions later, sophomore attacker Olivér Sudár squeezed it past the goalkeeper from the near post to take the lead for the Beach. Francisco added two more to his tally — ending the half with his third and fourth goals — to give the Beach an 8-5 lead. Apart from Hennessey’s goal to start the quarter, the Tritons were unable to add to the scoresheet as the Beach rode a 6-0 wave into halftime.
“We really started well,” head coach Matt Ustaszewski said. “We knew they would climb back in it and we knew there’d be some challenges, so we focused on the fundamentals. Executing those fundamentals is key to the sport.”
The Triton scoring drought finally came to an end halfway through the third quarter, with redshirt junior attacker Reef Lippa quickly finding the back of the net on a power play. UCSD was unable to make inroads into the Beach lead, which held steady at three going into the final period.
The Tritons began to find their rhythm in the final quarter. Junior utility player Mark Laurlund scored with a fireball from the right side, and a power play on the ensuing possession saw Hennessey nab a third goal to cut the Beach lead to one. The two teams traded goals for the first six minutes, but a lightning-fast play by the Tritons saw Laurlund find the back of the net, separating the two teams by only a goal with one minute left.
“We had to score,” Hennessey said. “The only way we can come back is playing defense, getting stops, and then scoring.”
Beach sophomore center Gabi Acosta scored on the next possession to widen the lead to two, and a last-gasp shot from Hennessey clattered off of O’Donnell and into the stands. The Beach held on for a 14-12 victory.
“Tomorrow night, Princeton, 6 p.m., that’s where we go from here,” Ustaszewski said. “Another amazingly difficult challenge for us, one that will make us better for November, and that’s really the key for us.”
The Tritons host No. 15 Princeton on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m. They return to conference play on Oct. 25 to take on No. 6 UC Davis at home.
