Pirates go 4-0 at Mt. SAC tournament

WALNUT -- It was a fantastic weekend for the Orange Coast College men's water polo team as the Pirates go 4-0 at the Mt. San Antonio College Men's Water Polo Tournament this past Friday and Saturday.

Coast (7-3) opened things up with a hard-fought, 13-11 win over Sierra College on Friday. Coast jumped out to a 5-1 first-quarter lead and never looked back on the Wolverines, who hung tough, but could never climb all the way back.

Jack McCann led the way with four goals and two assists, while AJ Sexton added three goals and Cade Zeilinger tossed in two. Starting goalie, Dominic Nieves had nine saves through three quarters before Gage Fojtasek picked up a save over the final quarter.

It was another battle in the afternoon matchup as Coast took on fellow Orange Empire Conference neighbor, Cypress College. Trailing 8-7 early in the third quarter, the Pirates responded with six straight goals in the third to regain the lead and never look back as OCC held on for a 16-13 win over the Chargers. 

Zeilinger led the way for Coast with four goals and two assists, while Sawyer McCormick and Ben Hecht each had two goals and three assists. McCann and Noah Sharp each had two goals, while Sexton had a goal and three assists. Goalie Igor Pinheiro came up big when he needed to with 11 key saves to preserve the win for the Pirates.

Coast woke up and took care of business on Saturday with a convincing 25-11 win over Southwestern. Leading 11-6 after the first half, OCC scored eight of the next nine goals in the third quarter and never looked back. 

Nico Wedepohl had four goals for the Pirates, while McCormick, Harrison Cook, Jackson Steele and Stan Schuring each scored twice.

In the tourney finale, Coast used a strong fourth quarter to double up L.A. Valley, 16-8. Leading 10-7 through three quarters, OCC used a 6-1 fourth quarter to complete the undefeated run through the tournament. 

To show the depth of the Pirate lineup, six different Coast swimmers scored goals in that pivotal fourth quarter. Zeilinger led the way with four goals overall, while Otis McAdams scored three and Sexton, Williams, McCann each scored twice. Fojtasek earned nine saves to gain the victory for the Pirates.

Coast will play at Fullerton College on Wednesday in an OEC matchup, beginning at 12 p.m., before heading up north to compete in the Cuesta Tournament this weekend.