Pirates finish second at OEC Water Polo Championships
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Orange Coast (,) | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
|
Golden West (,) | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 16 |
FULLERTON -- The Orange Coast College men's water polo team finished second overall in the Orange Empire Conference following action from last weekend's OEC Championships, hosed by Fullerton College.
Coast (17-7) earned a first round bye before knocking off Riverside City College, 12-5, in the semifinals. OCC trailed the Tigers (9-16) 3-2 after the opening quarter before blowing past RCC with a 9-1 run over the middle two quarters.
Nicholas Fichman led the Pirates with five goals and three steals, while Angel Rosado added three goals to go along with a pair of steals. Single tallies were scored by Gera Garcia, Eduardo Wainberg, Luke Rhone and Ryan Baumann.
In goal, Conor Halloran came up with 10 big saves and held the Tigers to just two goals over the final three quarters.
In the final, Coast took on top-seeded Golden West and fell to the Rustlers, 16-7. OCC hung tough against the Rustlers (21-1) and trailed 8-5 at the half. But GWC pulled away by outscoring OCC 8-2 over the final two quarters.
Fichman led the way with three goals and four steals, while Baumann added two goals for the Pirates, who will advance to this weekend's Southern California Regionals as the No. 4 seed. Coast will open Regional play against Cerritos on Friday at 3:15 p.m. at Cerritos College.
