Men’s Water Polo Kicks Off Season with Four Wins Up North

The Riverside City College men's water polo team began their season by participating in North vs. South Tournament hosted by Merced College this past weekend. Riverside put together a strong showing by going 4-1 with victories over American River, Las Positas, Sierra and Merced.

Riverside exploded in each of their wins by tallying double-digit scores to highlight their strong offensive display. They began with a dominant 23-2 victory over American River were nine different Tigers located the back of the net. Leading the charge in the season opener was sophomore Reese Starkey. He hummed home five netters while dishing out two assists. Sophomore Louis Grandi followed with four goals to go along with three assists.

Freshman Gerardo Garcia kicked off his career on a high note by firing home three goals all coming in the second half.

Riverside continued on to trounce Las Positas, 14-5, behind a steady attack as seven different players recording a score.

Las Positas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but Riverside quickly regained the lead with back-to-back scores from Grandi and Starkey on consecutive possessions. Sophomore Reljia Mitic and Garcia closed out the first frame with scores to put the Tigers up by two after the opening quarter.

Las Positas snagged the lead at halftime, but the Tigers followed in the second half by unleashing a 9-1 run that dominated the remainder to the contest. Mitic finished the contest with four netters, while Starkey backed him with three. Grandi continued to dominate as well with three goals and a game-high four assists.

Sierra was the closest and most intense game of the tournament with Riverside pushing it to the brink and prevailing in overtime.

It was slow moving for the Tigers after trailing by two at the conclusion on the opening eight minutes, but goals from Grandi and Mitic tied the game up at three apiece leading into the fifth minute of the second half. Sierra was pesky by finding the net two more times to a take a 6-4 lead into halftime.

The fourth quarter was electric as both teams traded seven goals within the first four minutes of action. Mitic got the scoring started on Riverside's end by answering an early-period goal from Sierra to put the Tigers up by one. The lead changed hands the following five scores with netters from Mitic and Grandi. Freshman Nicolas Sadowski hummed home his fourth goal of the game to force overtime with score at 12-all.

The Tigers outplayed Sierra in the final overtime period despite being down by one late in the frame. Sadowski fired home the game tying goal, backed by a game-winning netter from sophomore Tommy Demspey leading to a 15-14 victory.

Riverside capped the tournament with a loss to West Valley (23-8) and a 12-9 victory over Merced (12-9).

The Tigers overcame a two-goal deficit after they trailed 8-6 at halftime to hold Merced to just one goal in the second half. Seven players scored at least one goal with freshman Connor Lyton, Granid, Mitic and Sadowski socinrg two goals each.

Freshman Kevin Mora paced the team with four steals, while Lyton added three.

Throughout the tournament, goalkeepers Jesus Lopez and Seth Zarn split time between the pipes. Lopez was the main option by starting three games and hauling in three victories after recording 29 saves.