Scoring Drought

Ventura, CA - After jumping out to a 4-1 lead against Ventura College in their Western State Conference opener, the Citrus College Men's Water Polo team experienced arguably their worst scoring drought of the 2016 season. The Owls went approximately 13 minutes worth of game action without scoring, while the Pirates scored eight unanswered and never looked back in handing Citrus a 8-10 loss. 

 Freshman Jonathan Wong kicked the game off with a score a minute and a half in. Ventura would tie the game up shortly thereafter, but a goal by sophomore Vincent Edwards and two more by Wong put Citrus up 4-1 with 1:34 left in the first frame. That would be the last score for Citrus until Wong snapped an extremely long slide with 4:11 left in the third quarter. Wong's goal made it 5-9 with time running out. 

Wong would go on to score two more goals for the Owls, including one with 6:50 left in the fourth that made it 7-10. Citrus just never found a consistent flow again as the only other strike by the Owls came off the hands of freshman James Adams with 1:09 to go in the game. 

In the loss, Citrus was just 8 of 38 on their shot attempts and turned the ball over 11 times. Sophomore Kristopher Williams had six steals in a losing effort, while sophomore goalie Drake Santos had five steals and 13 saves.

With the loss, Citrus falls to 11-6 overall and more importantly 0-1 in WSC play. The Owls will try and get back on track this weekend where they face arguably their toughest slate of their 2016 schedule. Citrus will participate in the 2016 Lancer Invite, as the only community college program invited to a tournament that features some of the best four-year programs in the country. Citrus will open the weekend against NCAA #14 California Baptist on Friday afternoon.