LONG BEACH, Calif. ? The 4th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team came from behind to defeat 15th-ranked Long Beach State 9-8 on Saturday afternoon in Long Beach. UCSD trailed 7-5 entering the final period and exchanged goals to trail 8-6 with 4:42 remaining. Jesse Casellini scored at the 3:59 mark, followed by Ty Lackey's scores at 1:22 and 1:00 to complete the comeback victory. With the win, UCSD improves to 14-2, while the 49ers drop to 1-5.
Casellini led the Tritons with five goals, while Lackey added two scores. Ben Miller and Steven Donohoe also added scores for the Tritons.
After Jay Gerardi's goal with 4:42 left in the contest, the 49ers held an 8-6 lead. UCSD fought right back as Casellini scored his fifth goal of the day at the 3:59 mark to pull UCSD to within 8-7. Ty Lackey tied
the game at 8-8 with 1:22 left scoring on a six-on-five advantage. After a 49er turnover at their end of the pool, Lackey found the back of the net again at 1:00 to give the Tritons the lead.
UCSD's Jeremy Randall saved eight shots on the afternoon.
Long Beach jumped out to a 3-1 lead after one quarter as Greenwood tallied both of his goals (4:24, 3:27) in that period. UCSD rebounded with a 3-0 second quarter to take a 4-3 halftime lead. Casellini scored at 5:25 and 1:33 while Benjamin Miller scored at 0:38 for UCSD.
In the third quarter, with the 49ers trailing 5-4, Henneman scored at 2:28 and 0:20, both on man advantage opportunites for Long Beach. The 49ers led 6-5 heading into the fourth quarter. Korsgaden's breakaway goal at 7:21 gave LBSU a 7-5 lead before Casellini scored his fourth goal at 6:01. Gerardi's goal at 4:42 was the final goal of the day for the 49ers.
UCSD is back in action on Friday, October 6 against No. 3 UCLA. The game will be played at Canyonview Pool at 6:00 p.m.
