
The Long Beach State women’s water polo team gave No. 10-ranked UC Irvine quite a scare on Senior Night, but the Anteaters rallied in the second half to squeak by the 49ers, 8-7, in Thursday’s season-finale at the Campus Pool.
The loss dropped the ‘Niners (12-16, 1-4 Big West Conference) to the sixth seed in the Big West Conference Tournament where they will face third-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the first round at the UCSB Campus Pool next Friday.
The 49ers split two meetings against the Gauchos this season. LBSU won 5-2 in the Triton Invitational before losing, 8-7, at home during conference play.
Despite opening the postseason against the tournament host, the 49ers remain confident that they can pull off the upset.
“I know it’s going to be hard just because we’re going to be in their pool,” LBSU senior goalkeeper Kristen Stragier said. “I know if we play hard, we can beat them.”
With the win, UCI (19-8, 5-0 Big West) became the first women’s water polo team in Big West history to go undefeated through conference play.
“Our goal going into the season was to get a first-round bye in the Big West Tournament,” Anteaters head coach Dan Klatt said after his team pulled out the one-goal victory.
UCI and Cal State Northridge finished first and second in the Big West, respectively, to ensure a first round bye in the conference tournament.
Meanwhile, senior Lauren Sieprath and sophomore Melissa Matheson each tallied two goals for the 49ers, while the Anteaters received two goals from senior Cortney Collyer and sophomore Jessy Cardey, respectively.
The Beach fell behind early, spotting the Anteaters a 3-1 lead when UCI’s Olivia Cummins converted a 2-on-1 breakaway with a lob shot over Stragier with 22 seconds left in the first quarter.
LBSU cut the deficit in half, though, when Sieprath found the back of the net with one second remaining in the quarter.
The 49ers carried that momentum into the second quarter as they tied the game on a two-meter power pl
ay goal from Leonard midway through the frame. Matheson then scored on a power play with just over a minute later to give The Beach its first lead of the game, 4-3.
LBSU received solid goaltending in the second quarter. Stragier made seven saves in the period, highlighted by a diving stop to deny an Anteaters penalty shot that would have tied the score at 4.
“She’s a great asset to our program,” 49ers head coach Gavin Arroyo said of Stragier’s career with The Beach.
UCI responded with a rally in the third, scoring four unanswered goals to take their largest lead of the game, 7-4.
The 49ers answered with two goals of their own, however, and went into the final frame down by one.
But the Anteaters stifled The Beach’s momentum as they extended their lead to 8-6 with a goal from senior Caitlin Haskell. LBSU battled back with a goal from freshman Julia Garyfallou at the 3:44 mark, but that was as close as the 49ers would come as UCI clamped down on defense in the final minutes of the contest.
“They executed a little better tonight,” Arroyo said after watching his team come up short in a highly-contested game. “They made a run in the third that put them on top.”
A pregame ceremony was also held in honor of seniors Stragier, Sieprath and Meaghan Leonard.
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