COSTA MESA – Thirty-two years and counting …
The Golden West College men's water polo team continued one of the most impressive streaks in the history of California Community College sports on Saturday at Orange Coast College by defeating Saddleback, 18-12, to claim the 32nd consecutive Orange Empire Conference championship.
The top-seeded Rustlers (23-2) turned a close matchup with the No. 2 seeded Gauchos (25-6) with a dominating second-half performance. Leading 7-5, GWC turned on the jets and used a 5-1 third period to double up the Bobcats after three quarters and held serve with them in the fourth quarter to capture the OEC crown … yet again.
NINE different Rustlers scored goals with Felipe Ferrreira and Breno Tenet leading the way with three goals each. Augi Macchi, Itamar Kolodny, Stan DeMey, Reilly Pfeiffer and Konstantinos Koulouris each added two goals for GWC, while Nico Dangelo and Barnabas Vidovics each tossed in single tallies.
For the Bobcats, Alec Isaacman and Andrew Barnuevo each had three goals, but it wasn't enough as the Rustlers taggled Saddleback with their fourth loss in as many matchups this season.
Both teams will advance to next week's Southern California Regional Championships, hosted by Southwestern College.
Release by Tony Altobelli, OCC SID
