Women’s Water Polo: Owls Advance to SoCal Semi-Finals for First Time in Program History

Riverside, CA - The Citrus College Women's Water Polo program continued to make history on Friday afternoon when it knocked off #4 Long Beach City College in the 2019 CCCAA Southern California Playoffs. The Owls, seeded #5, used a four goal outburst in the fourth quarter to upset the Vikings 11-10. 

The Owls did it's best to keep pace with the Vikings early on, matching Long Beach's first two goals with scores by freshmen Lauren Olivier and Rachel Sherman. Long Beach had the last laugh before the first buzzer though as they took a 3-2 advantage into the second frame.

In the second quarter, the Vikings extended their lead scoring the first two goals, before a goal by freshman Hannah Long off a pass from Sherman made it 3-5 headed into the break. In the third, Long Beach would score two of the first three goals, but a 3-0 run by Citrus featuring a pair of goals by sophomore Cameron Schween and a 6-on-5 strike by Olivier would knot the game up seven goals a piece in with 2:17 to go in the third. 

Long Beach would score the final two goals of the quarter and then added the first strike of the fourth frame to go up 10-7, but Citrus was undeterred heading into the home stretch. Needing a big play, the Owls got exactly that when the veteran Schween pulled Citrus to within a pair on a score after a pass from Long. Sherman would make it 9-10 with just under four to play.

On the Vikings' next trip down the water, the Owls defense held true. Schween would step up once again, scoring her team high fourth goal of the game after another Long assist to tie the game up at 10-10 with 3:11 left to play in regulation.

With the balance of the contest on the line, both teams traded empty possessions, until Citrus ended up with the ball in the final seconds. Needing a big play, the Owls drew an exclusion giving them a man-up advantage. With the clock winding down, Sherman came up huge for the Owls putting the ball in the back of the net after receiving a pass from Olivier to give Citrus a 11-10 lead with just three seconds to go.

With the win, Citrus moves on to the SoCal Semi-Finals for the first time in program history. Waiting for them is #1 Fullerton College. The showdown is set for an 11:00 AM at Riverside City College.