Justin Koeppen scored a golden goal with 1:07 remaining in the sudden-death fourth overtime as the Long Beach State men’s water polo team captured an 11-10 victory over UC Santa Barbara, Saturday at the 49er Campus Pool.
The Beach trailed by one goal with 2:31 remaining in the fourth period, but battled back. Jeff Greenwood drew an exclusion penalty, giving the 49ers a 6-on-5 advantage and Justin Koeppen delivered a rocket into the net, sending the match into overtime.
LBSU head coach Gavin Arroyo was optimistic about his team’s resilience.
“Our guys came together and just kept battling,” Arroyo said. “We wouldn’t go away, it’s nice to be able to do it at home.”
The nearly 43-minute match included five lead changes and eight ties, as the No. 8 49ers (7-8, 1-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), notched their first MPSF victory.
The Beach opened the match with consecutive goals from Patrick van der Linde and Alexsandr Petrovic only to see the Gauchos score two unanswered goals of their own, ending the first period in a 2-2 tie.
Petrovic netted two of his team-high four goals in the second period, and Jordan Koeppen added a goal, giving LBSU a 5-4 advantage at the half.
UCSB’s leading scorer Milos Golic scored three of his six goals late in the third and early fourth periods giving the Gauchos a 7-6 advantage.
The 49ers’ Shane Luth answered with a defensive steal and goal that rattled off the bottom right post and found the net for a 7-7 tie. UCSB then scored on a man-advantage power play to take the lead with 4:22 remaining in the fourth.
Justin Koeppen began his late game heroics, tying the game with his first of three late goals; however the Gauchos promptly took the lead once again courtesy of a controversial call on the ‘Niners Kevin Mundia that awarded UCSB a 5-meter penalty shot.
Justin Koeppen sent the match into overtime, where Jeff Greenwood scored with 1:52 remaining. UCSB’s Zsombor Vincze came up with a match saving goal at the 22-second mark to force a second overtime.
Defense prevailed in the second and third overtime periods. Goalie Derek Wiebe-Bailey tallied nine saves for the match and kept the 49ers’ hopes alive in the fourth overtime with a diving save during a Gaucho 6-on-5 power play, allowing for the game-winning goal from Justin Koeppen.
The 49ers hope to continue their success with the next five matches taking place at home.
“This win is extremely, extremely important in the sense that it is our fourth MPSF game, and being 0-3 … it’s great to be close with your competition, and we needed the result today,” Arroyo said.
The Beach returns to action Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. when the team takes on No. 11 UC San Diego at the 49er Campus Pool.