Riverside Poloists Open Conference with 15-11 Home Win over Saddleback
RIVERSIDE -- In its first Orange Empire Conference (OEC) game of the season, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers Men's Water Polo team defeated the Saddleback College (SC) Gauchos, 15-11, on Wednesday (Sept. 17).
The Tigers (2-1 overall, 1-0 OEC) got off to a dominating start, finishing the first quarter, leading 6-2 with the help of two goals from sophomore Daniel Rolph (Palm Desert '13) , who finished the game with three tallies. With Rolph leading a hard-charging counter attack, RCC expanded its lead by halftime, going into the third period, leading 10-3.
The second half saw Saddleback try to make a comeback, outscoring the Tigers, 8-5, in the half. It wasn't quite enough, though, as RCC's defense, led by freshman goalie Jeremy Mariscal (Santa Ana / Jurupa Valley '14), who recorded nine saves, was able to thwart the Gauchos.
"We have a long way to go," said RCC second-year head men's water polo coach Jason Northcott, in assessing his young team which features ten freshmen and only two sophomores.
No truer words were ever said as the Tigers will trek to San Luis Obispo for the Cuesta College Tournament for their next action on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 19-20. RCC will face the host Cuesta Cougars in a 10:30 a.m. game on Friday. Its next game on Friday would be against either the Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) Monarchs or the Diablo Valley College (DVC) Vikings.
The Cuesta College Tournament is one of the top tournaments in the state.
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