Emily Garczynski, Alexis Butler shine as Long Beach State tallies comeback water polo victory

LONG BEACH >> Something woke up the Long Beach State women’s water polo team in a big way during the second half Saturday.

The No. 13 49ers (17-10, 4-1) erased a three-goal deficit and Emily Garczynski netted her third goal of the contest from straightaway and deep as the final buzzer sounded in a 7-6 home victory over UC Santa Barbara that gave LBSU its first regular-season Big West Conference title.

LBSU closed out the regular season with its senior day celebration, but the sophomore Garczynski tued out to be the hero as all three of her goals came after the break, including two in the fourth quarter.

“Really just on cloud nine,” she said after scoring a game-tying goal in the third and a go-ahead tally as well as the game-wier in the final period to help her team recover after trailing 4-1 early in the second. “It was one of the most exciting games I think I’ve ever played in in my entire career. I just kind of wanted to go out and do it for the seniors, just give them what they deserve.”

Miranda Schrader tied the matchup at 6 with 1:22 remaining, but timeouts by both teams allowed the 49ers to regroup and set up their plays on each side of a defensive stop.

The defense picked up steadily as well, as a number of field blocks and a stellar performance from senior Alexis Butler (career-high 17 saves) in the net held the Gauchos (15-12, 3-2) to just the Schrader goal in the second half.

Schrader scored three times to pace UCSB and Lauren Martin added two goals.

Alexandra Massier scored twice for Long Beach, while Aabel Harmon and Tori Morrissey netted a goal apiece.

“Santa Barbara is a great team,” LBSU head coach Gavin Arroyo said. “The great thing about our team is we were able to get back on track. We were definitely a little bit out of our game in the first half, but we don’t go away.”

The Big West Touament is set to begin Saturday at Santa Barbara. Long Beach State will be the top seed.

“It means big things,” Garczynski said of the momentum the win provides heading into the touament. “We’re ready to go, ready to show everyone that we’re out here to win. We’ve worked really hard for where we’re at so it’s exciting.”

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