Doing It Again

Walnut, CA -- One week after going 4-0 and winning their home hosted tournament, the Citrus College Men's Water Polo team did it again down the street at the Mt. San Antonio College Tournament, going 4-0 and winning the 2014 Mt. SAC Tournament.

Citrus weekend opened up on Friday against Saddleback College. The Owls would get four goals and seven assists from sophome goals. sophomore Charles Ortega, as they blew out the Gauchos 21-5. Freshman Drake Santos stopped five of the seven shots he faced in two quarters of play, while sophomore Eugene Lee, and freshmen Jonathan Lotero and Matthew Monroe each had three goals.

Later in the afternoon, Citrus got a scare from a tough Orange Coast College squad. The Owls would trail 5-2 after one quarter, but turned on the jets in the second to go into the break all tied up at six. In the third quarter, the two schools would trade six goals apiece, before Citrus pulled away in the fourth with a 5-2 goal advantage to post the 17-14 victory. In the win, Citrus was led by Lotero's team high five goals. Freshman William Martinez added four assists. Lee would be held scoreless for Citrus, but did draw seven exclusions giving Citrus multiple six on five chances.

On Saturday, Citrus took on the weekend's host Mt. San Antonio for the second time this year. The Mounties would hang with the Owls for one quarter, trailing by a single score 5-4. The Owls put it away early though, scoring six goals to Mt. SAC's one in the second, to take a commanding 11-5 lead at the break. In the third, Citrus stretched their lead even further going up 18-6, before ending the game with a 18-10 victory. None other than Johnny Lotero would lead Citrus' scoring effort with five goals. Ortega chipped in with three, while Lee and Martinez had two each.

In the final game of the weekend, Citrus took on Palomar College. The Owls and Comets played to a 3-3 tie in the first quarter, with Citrus pulling ahead in the second going into halftime up 9-6. The Owls continued to pull away in the third otuscoring Palomar 7-5 to go up 16-11. Citrus put the game away for good in the fourth outscoring the Comets 5-2 to take home a 21-13 victory. Iin the win, Lotero scored eight times, while Martinez scored three tmies and had four assists. Lee added two goals, an assist, and a pair of steals for good measure.

With the four wins, Citrus runs it's record to 10-1 on the year. The Owls will be back in the water beginning on Friday when they take part in the South of the Border Tournament hosted by San Diego Mesa College.