Tigers Split on Saturday, Finish in Third Place at West Valley Tournament

SARATOGA -- Gaining a split in Saturday's (Sept. 12) action, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers men's water polo team came away with a third-place finish at the West Valley College Tournament.

Riverside (5-1 overall) dropped a grueling 10-9 decision to the Cuesta College Cougars in a 10:30 a.m. game before taking third place with a solid 11-6 win over the San Diego Mesa College Olympians in a 2:15 p.m. game.

In the loss to Cougars, which RCC will face next week in a tournament hosted at Cuesta, freshman utility player Kyle Christian (Riverside / M.L. King HS '15) led the Tigers in scoring with three goals and two assists, while fellow freshman driver Lazar Raca (Belgrade, SERBIA) added a pair of goals.

RCC freshman goalie Dustin Shaw (Riverside / M.L. King HS '15) had five saves and fellow freshman goalie Blake Vazmendes (Yucaipa / Yucaipa '15) had three saves.

Against Cuesta, the Tigers trailed, 3-2, after the first quarter, then led, 6-4 at halftime, and were tied, 7-7, after three quarters

In the win over SDMC, Christian, again, led the way with four goals, two of which were scored on five-meter penalty shots, and Saenz added three goals. Goalie Shaw went the distance and logged 13 saves, including one on a five-meter penalty shot.

Against SDMC, the Tigers posted leads of 5-2 after the first quarter, 7-3 at halftime, and 9-6 after three quarters

RCC head coach Jason Northcott (CS San Bernardino '09) is in his third year at the Tigers' helm. Northcott has an overall won-lost record of 17-26 for the two previous seasons.

The Tigers will return to action on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 18-19, when they participate in the annual Cuesta College Tournament in San Luis Obispo.

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