Tigers Win Three of Four in Own Tournament; Visit Fullerton Wednesday in OEC Action
RIVERSIDE -- Playing one of its most solid games of the season, if not the third quarter, the host Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers men's water polo topped the visiting Grossmont College Griffins, 12-7, in the Tigers' final of four games played over the weekend at its annual Riverside Tournament.
Riverside City (12-4 overall) opened tournament play on Friday (Oct. 7) with a 14-9 win over the Diablo Valley College (DVC) Vikings before posting a solid 12-10 win over the Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) Monarchs (4-11-1).
The Tigers then opened play on Saturday (Oct. 8) with a 12-10 loss to the Cerritos College Falcons (17-2) before regrouping to face Grossmont (8-6).
Trailing, 4-3, at the end of the first quarter, RCC tied the game at 4-4, only to see the Griffins score late in the second quarter to take a 5-4 lead at halftime. But the Tigers came out strong in the third quarter, scoring six straight goals before Grossmont scored with 4.44 seconds left as RCC led, 10-6, heading into the fourth quarter.
RCC sophomore utility player Kyle Christian (Riverside / M.L. King HS '15) -- who is pictured (#2) -- had four goals and two steals to pace the Tigers against Grossmont. Freshman goalkeeper Kristopher McVeigh (Riverside / Riverside Poly HS '16) had ten saves.
In Friday's 14-9 win over DVC, a trio of Tigers -- Christian, Raca, and sophomore center Jonah Saenz (Riverside / Poly HS '15) -- each scored three goals. Freshman driver William Moncada (Medellin, COLOMBIA / Calasanz HS '16) had two goals, four assists and three steals for RCC. McVeigh had nine saves.
In Friday's nightcap 12-10 win over L.A. Valley, Raca led with three goals and McVeigh had five saves.
In Saturday's 12-10 loss to Cerritos, sophomore driver Lazar Raca (Belgrade, SERBIA / Sports HS '15) led RCC with four goals, two assists and two steals. McVeigh had six saves and two steals.
Riverside City, which is 1-1 in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) action, will return to OEC competition when it visits the Fullerton College Hornets on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 4 p.m.
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