Pirates take 3-of-4 at Long Beach
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Riverside (19-7) | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
|
Orange Coast (21-6) | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
LONG BEACH -- The Orange Coast College women's water polo team had another successful weekend of play, going 3-1 at the Long Beach City College Water Polo Tournament.
After a pair of blowout wins over El Camino (17-5) and American River (15-3) on Friday, the state's third-ranked Pirates (21-7) went back to work on Saturday and took on No. 2 Santa Barbara and nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages.
Trailing 11-5 early in the fourth quarter, the Pirates played their best quarter of the season, scoring six straight goals to tie things at 11 and forcing overtime. Finley Munchoff scored twice during that 6-0 run with single tallies coming from Elizabeth Laskey, Hayden Clark, Emma Willis and Layla Vargas.
In the overtime, Coast grabbed a 12-11 advantage off a goal by Willis, but the Vaqueros spoiled the comeback effort with tying goal in the first OT and a winning goal in the third OT for a 13-12 SBCC win.
Munchoff finished with goals, while Willis found the back of the net three times. Goalkeeper Savannah Pena (nine saves) and the Pirate defense held one of the top teams in the state to just two goals over the final 7:30 of regulation and three overtime periods.
In the afternoon finale, OCC took on No. 4 Riverside and pulled out a 12-10 win, withstanding a comeback by the Tigers down the stretch.
Coast led 11-7 on RCC (19-8) before the Tigers came through with a trio of goals in the fourth to make it a one-goal game, 11-10. Finally, with 55 seconds remaining, Hayden Clark's goal off of an Ariah Martinez assists gave the Pirates enough breathing room to preserve the win.
Clark finished with a team-best four goal, while Munchoff and Layla Vargas each scored twice. Pena was outstanding in goal for the Pirates with a 16-save performance against the Tigers.
Coast will head up to Santa Barbara for the SBCC Halloween Invitational on Sunday against West Valley College, beginning at 9 a.m.
