49ers Drop A Heartbreaker At USC

Koeppen, Kinne And Tomassi Each Score Twice



Jake Kinne scored two goals at USC.

Sept. 29, 2007

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Long Beach State men's water polo team put up a great fight, but in the end No. 1-ranked USC escaped with a 9-8 win over the 49ers at McDonald's Swim Stadium. USC improved to 7-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). The seventh-ranked 49ers, who dropped their second in a row, fell to 7-4 overall and 0-1 in the MPSF. The USC victory was the 25th consecutive at home by the Trojans.

Offensively, Jake Kinne, Justin Koeppen and Reid Tomassi all scored two goals for The Beach. Clint Wilson and Nick Korsgaden added the other tallies. In goal, senior Steve MacKenzie had a season-best 14 saves.

USC jumped to a 3-2 lead after the first quarter as Tommy Corcoran scored two of his team-high four goals. Tomassi tied the game at 3-3 with a goal at 6:53 in the second quarter and it stayed that way until 1:30 was left on the second quarter clock as Jovan Vranes scored his second goal of the day on a five-meter penalty shot to give the Trojans a 4-3 halftime lead.

The 49ers outscored the Trojans 3-1 in the third quarter to take a 6-5 advantage. Kinne tied the game at 4-4 with an early goal at 7:18 in the third quarter. Koeppen then scored his first goal at 6:15. After Corcoran tallied his third goal at 5:46, Koeppen scored again, this time at 3:52, to give the 49ers a 6-5 lead.

In the fourth quarter the Trojans scored the first three goals to take an 8-6 lead. Corcoran scored at 6:21, Nico Sardo at 5:36 and Justin Rappel at 4:17. The 49ers cut the deficit to 8-7 at 3:45 as Korsgaden tallied his lone goal of the day. USC countered at 3:15 as Shea Buckner scored what would eventually be the game-winner. Tomassi scored again at 2:48 to cut the deficit to 9-8, but the 49ers could not find the net on its final three possessions.

The 49ers face a busy week as they will play four games, beginning on Thursday afternoon (3 pm) when they play at Loyola Marymount. Saturday the 49ers travel to UC San Diego and next Sunday they host Brown and MIT at the Campus Pool.