Men's Water Polo Hosts RCC Mini Tournament, Drops Two

The Riverside City College men's water polo team hosted the RCC Mini Tournament on Friday and faced off against Mt. San Antonio College and Ottowa University. The Tigers showed signs of strength in the first halves of each game, but were unable to piece together effective play down the stretch leading to a pair of losses.

GAME ONE

It was a tight battle early on, but Riverside did not take the lead until the final minute of the second quarter. After trailing no more than two goals throughout the entire first half, sophomore Louis Grandi handed the Tigers the lead on his first score of the game. Sophomore Relja Mitic kept the Riverside in contention of the lead with three first half goals, backed by two scores from sophomore Tommy Dempsey.

The Tigers cooled off in the second half after being blanked in the third quarter to go down by three goals. Furthermore, they were outscored 7-3 in the fourth quarter leading to an 18-11 loss.

Mitic scored a season-high five goals to lead the team. Dempsey fired home two scores and recorded two assists. He added a pair of steals and ejections.

Sophomore Reese Starkey paced the team with four steals, while sophomore Seth Zarn Followed with three. Zarn recorded 11 saves and two assists while playing all four quarters between the pipes. He picked up his second loss of the season.

GAME TWO

Game two was a battle in the beginning, but the Tigers were outscored 15-8 in the last three frames leading to a 20-11 loss.

Grandi gave the Tigers an early lead after firing home the opening score of the game on the Tigers second possession, but Ottowa answered with two consecutive goals. Sophomore Ryland Cumming got them back on track by tying the game at two all halfway through the first quarter, but Ottawa answered once again with two more goals. Grandi closed out the frame with a netter to bring the Tigers within two.

The Firebirds came into the second period on a four-goal streak, but it was broken by Grandi's third goal of the game. Freshman Connor Lyton followed with a netter, but the half ended with the Tigers down 10-5.

Grandi paced the pack with four goals, which included an assist and a steal, while Mitic followed with two netters.

Sophomore Jesus Lopez earned the start in the cage and recorded nine saves and was tabbed with his first loss of the season.