Men’s Water Polo Pulls Through in Nail Biter

In a thrilling Conference match that went down to the wire, the Owls muscled their way through four quarters against the Cuesta College Cougars to win the game 11-10. The home match was the final Conference game for Citrus this year, and with the win, the Owls sit in second place with a 3-1 record in the Western State Conference. Citrus' new focus before playoffs will now be to boost their overall record of 19-4. The match up with the Cougars came down to who was the more physical team, and as a result of their victory, the Owls proved that they were physically prepared for the clash. Citrus will look to continue to impose their physical game on their remaining opponents.

The Cougars came out firing in the first quarter of the match as they netted 3 goals and limited the Owls to 0. The Owls had a handful of turnovers, steals, and blocked shots up until the Cougars first goal. The Owls inability to brew something up offensively in the first quarter could be due greatly because of Jonathan Wong's absence. Wong was not put into play until the start of the second quarter, and his presence quickly shifted the momentum for the Owls as they cut the lead to 3-2 by the end of the second quarter. Wong was once again, an offensive show as he led the team with 4 goals on 6 shots and drew 3 exclusions, despite not playing an entire quarter.

The turning point of the game for the Owls was the third quarter. Citrus had plays from just about every side of the pool, and displayed perfect team work to help them rally. The Owls went on to score 6 unanswered goals in the third quarter to put them up 9-5. Both Noah Fonacier and Mark Naranjo had much to do with the rally for the Owls, as they ended the day with a combined 4 goals, 4 assists, and 2 drawn exclusions.

The last hurdle for Citrus to secure the win was to hold on to the lead in the final quarter, but the Cougars were not going to be denied. Cuesta went on to rally and tie the game with 4 unanswered goals. Citrus responded with two goals to put them up by 2 and by the final whistle, the Cougars final goal was just short of the one goal they needed to tie the game. The Owls defensive stops that had a huge part in fixing their win were largely due to Keith Green who ended the day with an exceptional 6 steals and even managed to snag 2 goals. 

The suspenseful win will greatly boost the confidence of the Owls in their next games, as they will participate in the Mt. SAC Mini Tournament this weekend in aspiration of heightening their overall season record.