Pirates bring home Mt. SAC tourney title
WALNUT -- The winning continues for the Orange Coast College men's water polo team, following a successful 4-0 run at the Mt. San Antonio College Tournament this past weekend.
Coast picked up a pair of wins on Friday -- 25-8 over Southwestern and 16-7 over Saddleback -- before wrapping up the tourney on Saturday with wins over Fullerton (11-4) and host Mt. San Antonio (15-13 in overtime).
Strong starts helped pave the way for OCC's two Friday wins. In the opener against Southwestern, Coast scored the first six goals and led 13-3 at the half. Against the Gauchos, the Pirates jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led by as many as 12 (15-3) during the match.
In the semifinals against Fullerton, Coast led 7-3 after three quarters before pulling away with four straight goals by Tony Morelli, Colby Watson, Sean Richards and Tyler Jankovich.
In the finals against the Mounties, OCC led throughout the match and held a 12-9 advantage with just over two minutes left in regulation.
But Mt. SAC crept to within a goal with two goals over a 45-second span before OCC answered back with 1:17 to go to make it 13-11.
However, the Mounties found the back of the net twice over the final 48 seconds to tie the match up at 13, sending the match into overtime.
In the first of two overtime periods, Watson and Morelli helped put Coast back out in front with a pair of goals to make it 15-13. From there, the OCC defense stepped up and held the Mounties scoreless the rest of the way.
Scott Brush led the Pirates with goals throughout the four-game tournament, while Morelli added 11.
The Pirates' next home match will be a big one as they host conference-rival Golden West College on Wednesday, Oct. 23, beginning at 4 p.m.
