Owls Lose at Home and On Road
Glendora, CA & Pasadena, CA (Men's Water Polo) -- The Citrus College Men's Water Polo team played a pair of contests on Wednesday. The Owls opened up the day at home against Santa Monica College in their Western State Conference opener, and then hit the 210 Freeway to take on California Institute of Technology in the evening. Unfortunately for the Owls, Citrus came up short in both contests.
Both games would prove to be back and forth affairs, including the earlier of the two contests. Santa Monica staked themselves to an early 3-1 lead after one, and then went into the break up 9-7. In the third quarter, the Owls came roaring back going up 11-10 headed into the final period.
SMC would go up late in the fourth quarter, but a score by sophomore Raul Castaneda with 15 seconds left tied the game up at 15 all and sent the game into overtime. The Corsairs would strike first with a goal in the first overtime period, and then dug in on defense. Santa Monica held the Owls scoreless in the final three minutes, as they beat Citrus for the first time in 13 tries.
Freshman goalie Andy Perez did his best in goal, blocking 18 shots, his second highest total this season. Castaneda ended up with a team high seven goals, while freshman Austin Sanchez pumped in four.
In the night cap, the Owls again couldn't put away an opponent late. Cal Tech would run out to a 6-5 lead at halftime, but it was Citrus who came charging out of the gate in the second half. The Owls would score four of the first six goals in the third quarter to take a 9-7 lead, but the Beavers went on a 3-1 run to end the third quarter tying the game up at 10 goals apiece headed into the fourth and final frame.
Cal Tech would close out the Owls in the fourth quarter, out-scoring Citrus 5-2. Castaneda again led the way with a team high six goals. Freshman Jonathon Aguirre stole four balls, and Perez blocked 13 shots in the loss.
With the pair of losses, Citrus falls to 6-10 on the year and 0-1 in conference play after the loss to Santa Monica. Citrus will take the weekend off before trying to get back on track next week with contests against Ventura and Occidental on Wednesday October 3rd. The Owls take on Ventura in Ventura at 2:15 PM, and then will play Occidental at Oxy on their way home. That match is scheduled for a 7:00 PM start.