Pirates hold on for 14-13 win over Tigers; fall late to SBCC

COSTA MESA -- The bar is already set for "best Saturday match" at the OCC Women's Water Polo Tournament as the host Pirates edged conference-rival, Riverside City College, 14-13, in the morning opener.

It was a back-and-forth battle right from the opening whistle as both teams traded goals throughout most of the first half. Trailing, 5-4, Riverside finally earned back-to-back tallies to grab a 6-5 lead late in the first half before a goal by OCC's Finley Munchoff with 13 seconds left sent both teams into halftime tied at 6.

Both teams made offensive adjustments in the third quarter and both proved effective as both teams combined for 11 goals in the frame. With neither team carrying a lead bigger than one throughout the third, a pair of OCC goals by Munchoff gave Coast a 12-11 advantage with one quarter remaining.

Those two goals by Munchoff sparked the game's lone goal streak as the Pirates (4-3) opened the fourth with two more goals, capping off the 4-0 run and putting the Pirates up, 14-11. Hayden Clark and Emma Willis each found the back of the net and from there, the Pirate defense went back to work, keeping the Tigers (2-1) off of the scoreboard. 

With less than 2 minutes remaining, Riverside snapped a nine-minute scoring drought when Madison Faulkner found the back of the net with 1:22 left, bringing RCC to within two at 14-12. 

Coast failed to score on its next possession and with 48 seconds remaining, the Tigers made it a one-goal game when Yosra Elseifi scored to make it 14-13.

Again, the Pirates didn't answer and with 23 seconds left, Riverside has possession and a chance to tie things up, but strong OCC defense by Brooke Kaltenbach enabled Willis to swipe the ball away from the Tigers and from there, Willis swam the remaining seconds off of the clock to preserve OCC's hard-fought win.

Munchoff led the Pirates with five goals and two steals, while Willis added four goals and an assist. Clark earned three goals an an assist, while goalie Savannah Pena helped her own cause with a team-best three assists.

Pena came up big when she needed to be and had six saves in the win. RCC's Ella Sheldon also had six saves for the Tigers.

In the second matchup of Day 2, the Pirates took on last year's state runners-up, the Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros. In that matchup, the Pirates pushed the state's No. 2-ranked squad for four full quarters before falling late, 11-9.

In a match that "featured" a combined 29 exclusions and penalties between both clubs, the shorthanded Pirates saw the Vaqueros overcome an 8-7 deficit midway through the fourth quarter with four of the final five goals of the contest to pull away late. Clark and Willis each had a pair of goals, while Pena had 11 saves. 

Coast will head out to the Riverside City College Tournament next weekend and will open against Santa Barbara, beginning at 11:30 a.m.