From Long Beach Current
By Monica Badolian
Long Beach State club hockey fought hard, but could not hold on late, falling 4-2 to Loyola Marymount University on Saturday, Oct. 4 in a highly physical matchup that featured plenty of action.
As The Beach headed into Saturday’s contest on a four-game win streak, both teams opened the game at a fast pace, trading rushes before LBSU broke through. LBSU sophomore Andrew Mankovetskiy buried a shot through traffic in the front of the net to give them an early 1-0 lead.
Long Beach was without its captain, senior James Mcguire, who served a one-game suspension Saturday following a fight in the previous night’s game against UC Santa Barbara.
“It’s always pretty tough losing a player, especially losing our captain, our on-ice leader,” LBSU senior and team president Kyle Oki said. “I had to step in. I tried my best to rally the troops, but it was just a rough start from the beginning.”
Despite Mcguire’s absence, players like junior Nate Compton and freshman Boston Parcher stepped up, blocking shots and breaking up LMU’s rushes to keep the lead intact 1-0 to the end of the first period.
During the middle of the second period, LMU tied the game, but LBSU answered quickly, as freshman CJ Theberge found the back of the net, regaining the lead at 2-1.
In the third period, penalties on both sides began to pile up with back-to-back minors from LMU and LBSU, leading to four-on-four hockey on multiple occasions.
The Beach struggled to find rhythm as the penalties piled up.
LMU capitalized on a power play late in the period, tying the game 2-2 before adding another goal off a scramble at the front of the crease to take the lead with just over three minutes left.
The Beach pulled their goalie in the final minute to gain the extra man advantage, but the Lions sealed the win with an empty-net goal, finishing the night 4-2.
Despite the loss, LBSU fought hard, but discipline and late-game composure swung the outcome in LMU’s favor.
“You have to be in the right space mentally…We’re going to go hard this week in practice,” said Compton. “It was just a few d-zone mishaps that caused all those goals, and you just got to bear down and practice.”
Coming up, LBSU takes on San Diego State University on Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
(Originally published at https://lbcurrent.com/sports/2025/10/05/lbsu-club-hockey-falls-to-lmu-after-late-lion-surge/)
