Pirates go 2-0 at Cerritos tourney

NORWALK -- The Orange Coast College men's water polo team left the opposition in its wake on Friday, picking up a pair of wins at the Cerritos Mini Tournament on Friday at Cerritos College.

In the opener, it was no contest as the Pirates routed the Citrus College Owls, 27-3. TWELVE different Pirates scored goals against the Owls, with Aiden Morris leading the way with five, Dane Howell with four and three each from Alexander Pezold, Ethan Pranajaya and Trenton Toma.

In goal, Ethan Harris shut down the Owls over the final three quarters and finished the contest with eight saves.

It was a much tighter matchup in the afternoon session against the host Falcons, but in the end, the Pirates again prevailed, 15-11.

After three quarters, Coast held onto a 9-8 advantage before turning on the jets in the fourth with four straight goals to pull away for good.

Pranajaya was strong for the Pirates (7-5) with five goals and three steals, while Mason Parker, Julian Cassel-Cornet and Martin Verkuylen each tossed in two goals.

Goalie Benjamin Matz came up big when he needed to and posted 12 big saves against a very strong Falcons' squad (14-4).

Coast will return to action next weekend at the Riverside City College Tournament, beginning on Friday. OCC's next home matchup will be on Wednesday, Oct. 12 against Cypress, beginning at 4 p.m.