Women's Water Polo Earns Two Wins in Host Tournament

It was a busy weekend for the Riverside City College women's water polo team as they hosted the RCC Tournament at Citrus College. The Tigers faced off against four teams and split on the weekend by hauling in two wins on Friday against Golden West and Chaffey, but falling to Santa Barbara and Long Beach on Saturday.

Friday was a good day for the Tigers as they controlled play from start to finish. They began with a 15-7 win over Golden West, backed by a 16-4 trouncing against Chaffey. They nearly pulled off a double overtime victory against Santa barbara, but faltered in the end. 

A handful of players shined throughout the tournament highlighted by freshman tandem Taylor Mason and Amber Nielsen.

Mason went off in the victory over Golden West by netting a career-high seven goals to lead her team. She followed with a three goal, one assist performance in the win over Chaffey. She currently holds a five-game scoring streak and is second on the squad in scoring.

Leading the team in scoring is Nielsen who now has 28 goals on the season. In the victories, she netted five goals each while dishing out a pair of assists against Chaffey. She has found the back of the net in eight of nine games she has played thus far.

Freshman Lindsey Habegger put together a strong performance by acting as the main facilitator in the tournament. She dished out eight total assisted and scored three times in the process. She scored one goal in each victory.

Freshman Lauren Loffelmacher has been dynamic and arguably Riverside's best all round asset. She scored at least one goals in all four games highlighted by a four-score effort in a loss to Long Beach. On the season, she has pocketed a team-high 21 steals and has recorded at least one steal in seven games.

It was a goalie by committee approach throughout the tournament as freshman Gabriella Fisher spent the majority of the time between the pipes. She hauled in 14 saves with seven each coming in the set of losses on Saturday. She picked up the win against Golden West to push her overall season record to 3-3.

Freshman McKenna Ortiz earned her first win of the season between the pipes against Chaffey. She earned a save in the process.

Riverside (4-5) will begin Orange Empire Conference (OEC) action on the road Wednesday, September 22 as they will face off against the Cypress Chargers at 4 p.m.