Week of December 03, 2012
Long Beach State (LBSU) men’s water polo coach Gavin Arroyo was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) “Coach of the Year” as MPSF officials announced its all-conference awards for the 2012 season.
This is the second time Arroyo has been voted by his peers to receive this honor, the first coming in 2007 as co-coach of the year.
Arroyo, in his seventh season with the 49ers, led the team to its first MPSF Tournament appearance since 2008, finishing 2-1 and taking fifth-place. He also led the squad to its second-best finish in program history, compiling a 24-8 record overall, including a 4-4 mark in conference-play.
Leading the way for the LBSU players was junior Dan Matulis, who claimed his first second-team All-MPSF award after leading the 49ers in scoring with 69 goals during the 2012 season.
Following him were five teammates who all earned All-MPSF honorable-mention honors, including senior Spencer White, freshman Nolan McConnell, junior Nick Rascon and sophomores Milos Vrzic and Balint Meszaros.
White, a transfer from Cal, was LBSU’s second-leading scorer this past season with 63 goals. True freshman McConnell recorded 47 goals in his first season as a 49er and was second on the team with 15 multi-goal games. Vrzic led the 49ers with 17 goals during conference play to finish the season with 40, good for fourth on the team.
Rascon, who missed a third of the season, finished with 24 goals to earn his second All-MPSF honorable-mention award as a 49er (the last in 2010 as a freshman). Meszaros, the team’s starting goalie, recorded 284 saves during the year, breaking LBSU’s single-season saves record of 282, which was set by Derek Wiebe-Baily back in 2008.
