Glendora, CA (Men’s Water Polo) – The 2006 Citrus College Men’s Water Polo team got their first win since the middle of September this past weekend, but the wins didn’t come until they lost two games on the first day of the Citrus Men’s Water Polo Tournament, held at Citrus and Chaffey Colleges.
On Friday the Owls played host to Orange Coast College and Santa Ana College, losing both games by slim margins. In the first game against OCC, the Owls were led by Gamal Rady and Douglas Moore who each scored 2 goals in the 7-11 loss. Goalie Anthony Pearson registered 11 saves in the loss, while Joseph Rasich and Conner Ruggio both had two steals apiece. The second game against Santa Ana proved to be much of the same with the Owls losing 9-12. Conner Ruggio led all Owls with 3 goals in the game.
On the second day of action things began to turn around for Citrus as they would head over to Chaffey College and face Mt. SAC in the day’s first action. Rady had arguably his best game as an Owl racking up 8 goals on the day in the 14-10 win. Pearson recorded 10 saves, and Conner Ruggio and Douglas Moore bolstered the Owl defense with 4 and 3 saves respectively. In the second game Rady continued his scoring bonanza with 6 more goals, while Moore contributed 5 in the 19-7 win over Merced. Pearson put forth a stellar performance with 11 saves on the game. Ruggio also had a field day on the defensive end with 10 steals.
With the two wins and two losses the Owls improve to 5-12 on the season. Next up will be another Western States Conference match-up as the Owls play host to LA Valley for a 3:00 pm match-up. The Owls are 0-2 in conference play.