Pirates shock Hornets 11-10 to win OEC Title!

RIVERSIDE -- In one of the most dramatic, heart-stopping finishes in women's water polo history, the Orange Coast College Pirates etched their names in the history books by upsetting top-seeded Fullerton, 11-10 in an eight-overtime thriller on Saturday in the finals of the Orange Empire Conference Water Polo Championships, hosted by Riverside City College.

Third-seeded Coast (24-4), a team that had gone 0-3 this year against the top-seeded Hornets (27-4), led 5-1 early in the second quarter and carried a 7-4 lead into the fourth quarter. There, the Hornets battled back and grabbed a 9-8 advantage when Sophia Martinez scored with 3:05 left in regulation.

But the Pirates answered back and forced overtime when Ana Nardelli scored with 1:38 remaining, sending this epic battle into extra time.

In the first two overtime sessions, a Fullerton goal by Jordyn Lughart and a Pirate goal by Jillian Duwe forced things farther. From there, it became a battle for the ages as neither team could find the back of the net for FOUR more overtime periods. Finally, in the 8th OT, with eight seconds remaining, Natalia Stanard took a cross-pool pass from Faith Cuevas and in one motion, buried the ball into the goal, sending the OCC squad into a frenzy.

"We had several competitive games against Fullerton this season and they are a great team," OCC head coach Dan Matulis said. "Today we focused on being the best version of ourselves and focusing on playing our style of water polo. We did a fantastic job of playing defense all game and stated within our gameplan. I'm beyond proud of all of our players. They've been bought into the program all season and have worked so hard for this."

The unsung hero for the Pirates in this matchup was goalie Annabelle Sherman, who stepped up and notched a season-best 24 saves, while keeping the Hornets off of the scoreboard for five straight overtime periods.

Duwe and Cuevas each had three goals and two assists for OCC, while Destiny Hernandez added two goals and an assists. 

OCC will now move onto the Southern California Regionals, set for this coming weekend at Long Beach City College.

With the big win, the Pirates moved up to No. 2 seed and will take on the winner of the No. 7 Cypress and No. 10 Saddleback match on Friday at 11:30 a.m. at LBCC.