Pirates rally, pull past Rustlers, 14-6
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Golden West (,) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
|
Orange Coast (,) | 1 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 14 |
COSTA MESA -- An early deficit was no trouble for the Orange Coast College women's water polo team, who used a dominant second half of play to pull past rival Golden West, 14-6, on Wednesday at the OCC Aquatics Pavilion.
With a loud a Pirate-heavy fan base in attendance (courtesy of the OCC football team), the Pirates (17-2, 4-0 in the Orange Empire Conference), overcame a 5-4 first-half deficit by outscoring the Rustlers 10-1 over the final two quarters to earn the victory.
Coast used a 7-0 third quarter to grab the lead for good as Jillian Duwe, Faith Cuevas and Destiny Hernandez each scored twice in the period with Natalia Stanard tossing in a goal of her own.
Leading 11-5 heading into the final quarter, goals by Ana Nardelli and Ashley Bellavia pushed the lead to 13-5 and the consecutive goals by the Pirates to 10 before GWC (13-10, 1-3) snapped its scoring drought with a goal by Alexia Cooper with 1:27 left to play, ending nearly 18 minutes of goal-free defense applied by the Pirates.
Due and Ella Wisdom each had three goals for OCC. Kendall Chrisman added a goal and an assist, while Pirate goalie Annabelle Sherman added three assists and two steals to go along with 12 saves.
Coast returns to action on Friday and Saturday at the Long Beach City College Tournament before returning home to take on Fullerton on Wednesday, beginning at 3 p.m.
