Men’s Water Polo Upsets Top Seed UC Irvine To Advance To Conference Final

DAVIS, Calif. – Fifth seeded Long Beach State upset top seed UC Irvine 15-13 to advance to the Big West Championship final in a thrilling semifinal from Davis.  Gabi Acosta, Bruno Chiappini and Caleb Francisco each netted hat tricks to help the Beach clinch their first appearance at the Big West Championship final. 

 

A strong effort in the first play of the game allowed the Beach to strike first with Marc Frigola. UC Irvine answered with four minutes left in the quarter to tie the game 1-1. Back-to-back goals by Kostantinos Kapragkos and Caleb Francisco extended the Beach lead to two with 1:24 left. The Anteaters tied with two goals by Johann Thrall but Chiappini netted his first of the game with one second left as the Beach led after eight minutes 4-3. 

 

UCI started the second quarter with a quick goal to tie the game, but freshman Harper Stewart answered back to put the Beach on the lead one more time. The Anteaters would tie the game one more time but back-to-back goals by Chiappini made the game 7-5 in favor of Long Beach State. UC Irvine answered one more time, but Gabi Acosta added one for the Beach to head into halftime 8-6. 

 

The intensity of the match continued in the second half with the Beach adding two more goals as Francisco and Corbin Stanley each scored one to extend the lead to 10-6. The Anteaters answered with two goals but Acosta added one more to the scoresheet as the Beach led 11-8 with under three minutes left in the third quarter. After UCI closed the gap to two, junior Itai Roth snuck one past Jacob Pyle and closed the third quarter with the Beach leading 12-9. 

 

The last quarter of the match started with Francisco adding another goal on the first 30 seconds extending the Beach lead to four. UCI netted two quick goals with under five minutes left but Acosta answered back to make it 14-11. Ethan Shipman netted two more for the Anteaters to make it a one-goal game with 2:23 left. Stewart's final goal helped clinch the game for the Beach as Long Beach State defeated the regular season champions 15-13. 

 

The Beach now waits the winner of No. 2 seed UC San Diego and No. 3 seed UC Davis. First sprint is scheduled for Sunday at Noon at the Schaal Aquatics Center. The final match will be live on ESPN+ and live stats for the match will be provided through thefosh.net.