Glendora, CA (Men’s Water Polo) – The Citrus College men’s water polo continued to struggle this afternoon as it played host to the Citrus College Tournament. The Owls opened up their tournament bid with back to back losses to Orange Coast and Merced.
In their first game of the day, the Owls came out flat and found themselves in a quick hole. Orange Coast jumped out to a 5-0 lead after scoring five unanswered goals in the 1st period. In the second frame the Owls allowed five more goals yet again, but were able to get on board with three goals of their own. Citrus would get out-score in the third and fourth quarter, and eventually fell 15-6 in their first game of the day.
In the second game against Merced, it was the Owls who would jump out to an early lead. After the Blue Devils recorded the first blow of the game, Citrus came back with two goals of their own after Adam Domenici and Aylton Yamamoto recorded back to back scores to give Citrus a one-point edge. Merced came back firing however, and took the lead back 3-2 after the end of one period.
In the second Merced would increase their advantage by out-scoring the Owls 2-1, and taking a 5-3 lead into the half. In the second half, the Owls began to ratchet up their defense as they held the Blue Devils to just one goal in the third quarter. After goals by Brad Beintema and Justin Coy, Citrus would crawl back to within in one point before the final frame trailing five to six after three quarters.
In the fourth and final quarter Merced came out quickly recording two goals in the first two minutes to take a three point lead. Citrus proved to be hard to put away as the Owls scored three of the next four points to trail by only one point with under a minute to go. With 18 seconds left on the clock the Owls took their chance to tie the game, as Justin Coy’s shot hit the post, to preserve the Blue Devil victory.
With the losses on the day, the Fighting Owls fall to 3-12 overall. Citrus will continue playing in the Citrus Tournament tomorrow afternoon, with play resuming for the Fighting Owls at Chaffey College.
Box Score vs Orange Coast
Box Score vs Merced