Pirates finish strong against Hornets; win in overtime, 12-9
COSTA MESA -- Some overtime offense and some solid overtime saves proved to be the perfect combination of success for the Orange Coast College men's water polo as the Piratestopped visiting Fullerton College, 12-9 in both teams' Orange Empire Conference opener.
Trailing 9-8 with just over two minutes left in regulation, Coast (3-0, 1-0) took advantage of a 6-on-5 opportunity and scored when Colby Watson took a pass from Scott Brush and buried a shot into the back of the goal to force overtime.
In the first of two 3-minute periods, Coast grabbed the lead for good when Sean Richards fed Dillon Avilla (three goals) and Katella HS product found the back of the net to make it 10-9.
Goalkeeper Luis Martinez (seven saves) came in to start the second half and made his presence felt in the overtime. With 17 seconds left in the first OT, Fullerton's Joe Feaster had a point-blank scoring opportunity but his shot was sent aside by Martinez.
In the second OT, the Pirates used a steal and breakaway to pocket their 11th goal of the game with 2:06 remaining and Martinez kept it that way with 43 seconds left on another point-blank shot by the Hornets -- this time from Justin Moore.
From there, the Pirates iced the match away when Derek Salvino took a pass from Richards and lobbed a shot into the far corner to make it 12-9.
Tony Morelli had three goals during regulation to help put the Pirates up 6-3 in the second quarter before the Hornets responded with a 5-1 scoring run to take an 8-7 lead.
Gavin Wright made the most of a pass from Watson to tie the score at 8 with just two seconds left in the third period.
Josiah Vander Kooy had five saves and a pair of assists for the Pirates in the first half.
OCC will return to Orange Empire Conference action on Wednesday at Saddleback College, beginning at 4 p.m.
