Pirates slip past West Valley in State Final Four!

MERCED -- The Orange Coast College men's water polo team has earned the first spot in the "Big Dance" with an 11-10 comeback win over West Valley College in the semifinals of the 3C2A Men's Water Polo State Championships on Friday at Merced College.

With the win, the Pirates (27-10) -- the No. 2 seed out of Southern California -- will take on the winner of the Long Beach City College/Golden West College semifinal for the state championship on Saturday, beginning at 11:15 a.m. Coast is looking for its first men's water polo state championship since 1972.

The Vikings, winners of 20 straight and the top seed in Northern California heading into Friday's state semifinal, finish their season 31-4.

"West Valley is a really talented team and we knew they'd play us hard," OCC head coach Dan Matulis said. "The key for us was going to be staying disciplined and composed throughout the game. Our conditioning and structure allowed us to finish the game strong."

Much like their previous matchup this season (won in triple overtime by West Valley), both teams went back and forth, with the Vikings carrying a 5-4 lead at the half.

Dylan Morris tied things up at 5 early in the third quarter, but West Valley ripped off three straight goals to take an 8-5 lead with 3 minutes left in the quarter. 

Coast took advantage of a pair of 6-of-5 opportunities and got back into the game with back-to-back goals by Jack McCann over a 19-second span to pull OCC to within a goal at 8-7.

In the final minute of the third, goals by McCann and Owen Cugoni put OCC back in front, 9-8 with one quarter remaining.

Both teams traded goals early in the fourth, with a Vikings' goal by Oliver Schnauer tying things up at 10.

Finally ... with a minute left in the game, Cade Zeilinger found the hot hand and it was McCann, who buried a shot just inside the left post and under the arm of the WVC goalie to put the Pirates up 11-10.

"Jack has been a great player for us this year," Matulis said. "He worked hard to learn our system as soon as he got here. He's a fantastic shooter and he put away big shots for us down the stretch."

West Valley's next possession resulted in a key save by Gage Fojtasek, giving the possession back to OCC. 

All Coast could do was run out their play clock and with 9 seconds remaining, the Vikings had one final chance to force overtime.

With goalie Lucas Rocha Gentil out of goal and with the ball on top of the formation, his pass sailed over his WVC teammate in the final seconds and by the time the Vikings regained possession, the clock ran out on them.

McCann finished with four goals and an assist for OCC, while Sawyer McCormick tossed in two goals to go along with three assists.

The Pirates earned their trip to the semifinals with a 15-10 win over Sierra College in the opening round of the state finals. Coast jumped ahead 9-3 in the first half and never gave the Wolverines a chance to get back into the contest.

Zeilinger led the way with four goals, while Dylan Morris added three goals and Jack McCann tossed in a pair.