Huntington Beach, Calif. - Golden West men's water polo (21-3, 4-0 OEC) hosted the GWC tournament and won all four of their appearances over the weekend.
10/20/2023 vs No. 9 Sierra College, 20-8
The Rustlers began their morning with a matchup against the Sierra Wolverines. Golden West jumped out ahead from the start as they scored six goals in the first quarter while not allowing Sierra to find the back of the net. The Wolverines gained a rhythm in the second quarter as they outscored the home team 2-4. However, Golden West took back control in the third frame as the team exploded for seven and limited the Sierra offense to three goals. The Rustlers tallied an additional eight insurance goals in the final frame to close out the dominant win, 20-8.
Vincent Labonte found the net the most for Golden West as he scored four times off of six shots and recorded an assist. The rest of the offense was evenly shared with five players able to find the net twice. Matthieu Oliveri, Ethan Carrington, Itay Roth, Mason Merritt and Emiliano Tovar each scored two goals for their team. In net, Jose Antonio Silva saved four shots and Pablo Souza saved six shots in the win.
10/20/2023 vs No. 10 Cuesta College, 9-6
After their 20 goal win, the Rustlers were met with a strong game from the Cuesta Cougars. Both sides began the game with two goals in the first eight minutes. Golden West managed to find the net twice in the second frame to get their first lead of the matchup. The Cougars and Rustlers matched in the third quarter yet again with a goal apiece. In the final frame, the home team pulled away with four goals to two and finished out the tight victory, 9-6.
Merritt scored the most goals for the Rustlers with three from five shots and also recorded two assists with a steal. Alec Johnson had the game leading goal as he found the net twice with two assists and five steals. Oliveri found the net twice, had an assist and tallied two steals. Braeden Sanders was in goal for the entire game and saved six Cuesta opportunities.
10/21/2023 vs No. 5 Long Beach City College, 11-7
On the second day of the tournament, Golden West competed against the Long Beach Vikings. The Rustlers took charge in the first frame as they finished the opening eight minutes up, 4-0. Golden West repeated in the second quarter with four goals and allowed their opponent three goals. The second half was a bit quieter on the scoreboard and the Rustlers early large lead would prove to be the deciding factor in the win, 11-7.
Tomas De Luca had a four goal game on nine shots and also collected an assist. Roth scored three times off of nine shots, recorded five assists and two steals. Cody Chastain found the net once and was able to steal the ball from the Vikings three times. Golden West won their third straight game in the tournament with a chance to win out in their four appearances.
10/21/2023 vs No. 3 Saddleback, 8-7
On October 18th, Golden West hosted Saddleabck for a conference face-off in which the home team held on for the 8-6 victory to remain undefeated in the Orange Empire Conference. In a rematch from three days before, the Bobcats visited Golden West in a non-conference matchup for the GWC Tournament. It was another intense, back and forth battle with two of the states best men's water polo programs.
In the first quarter, the home team managed to find the net three times as Saddleback trailed close behind with two. For both the second and third frames, each team scored a goal to keep it a one score game. In the fourth, the Bobcats tied the game at five and took the matchup to overtime. In the extra quarter, Golden West took the lead late. With 00:26 left in overtime, Saddleback found the net to push the game to a second overtime period.
The game entered a second overtime frame and the Rustlers jumped out to a two goal lead. Though Saddleback did find the back of the net, it was too late for a comeback. Golden West escaped the hard fought battle on top, 8-7. Roth scored both of his goals in the overtime periods and stole the ball once. Chastain scored a goal and stole the ball twice from the Bobcats. Sanders played all six periods and saved nine shots from 16 Bobcats chances. With the one score win, Golden West came out on top for all four of their appearances in the GWC Tournament.
NEXT UP: Golden West will conclude their regular season schedule on the road on Saturday, October 28th at Pomona Pitzer. The Rustlers will play Occidental at 2pm and Pomona Pitzer at 4pm.
