Tigers Finish Third at SoCal Championships; Riverside Posts Final Overall Redcord of 20-10

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Sandwiching a pair of regional playoff wins around a loss to the top-ranked team in the state, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers men's water polo team posted a third-place finish in the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern California (SoCal) Regional Championship Tournament this past weekend (Nov. 10-12).

The 55th annual SoCal Regional Championships were hosted by Golden West College. RCC and Golden West were the only two Orange Empire Conference (OEC) teams to receive a playoff berth in the ten-team regional bracket.

Riverside City (20-10 overall) received the No. 4 seed in this week's SoCal Regionals and defeated the No. 5-seeded Mt. San Antonio College (MSAC) Mounties, 15-9, last Friday Nov. 11) to advance to Saturday's (Nov. 12) semifinal and final rounds of action.

In semifinal action, Riverside lost, 13-7, to the host and No. 1-seeded (and undefeated at 29-0) Golden West College (GWC) Rustlers before edging the Cuesta College Cougars, 12-11, to claim third place in the region.

Recapping last weekend's regional action, sophomore driver Lazar Raca (Belgrade, SERBIA / Sports School '15) led the Tigers with four goals and freshman goalkeeper Kristopher McVeigh (Riverside / Riverside Poly HS '16) made nine saves against MSAC. Against Golden West, freshman driver William Moncada (Medellin, COLOMBIA / Calasanz HS '16) had three goals and McVeigh had 12 saves. In the third-place game against Cuesta, sophomore driver Jonah Saenz (Riverside / Riverside Poly HS '15) scored three goals and McVeigh had seven saves.

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With the conclusion of this week's California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) South Regional Playoffs, RCC fourth-year head men's water polo coach Jason Northcott has an overall record of 54-47.

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