Owls Knock-Off First Place Cuesta in OT

San Luis Obispo, CA - With one of the top three seeds in the upcoming Western State Conference Championship tournament on the line, the Citrus College Men's Water Polo team picked up arguably one of its best wins of the year on Wednesday afternoon when they made the long trek up to San Luis Obispo to take on Cuesta College. The Owls defeated the Cougars, who were all alone in first place prior to the game, in an overtime thriller 14-13.

The two teams would trade goals in the opening quarter, sending the game into the second period knotted up at two scores a piece. That trend would continue through the first half of the second quarter, with sophomore Daniel Velasquez scoring a pair of goals for the Owls, including one with 3:48 left in the second quarter that would tie the game up at 4-4. The Cougars would rally over that final three minutes plus though and head into the half leading 6-4.

The third quarter would prove to be the Owls, quarter. They outscored Cuesta 3-1 to pull back even at 8-8 after scores by Velasquez, and sophomores James Cano and James Adams. The Owls would keep the momentum going into the fourth, using a 4-1 to build up a 11-8 lead after a score by freshman Jonathan Wong with 2:44 left in the fourth. The Owls couldn't put the game away though, as they watched Cuesta score three goals in the final two minutes of action to force overtime.

In the first overtime, Citrus fell behind, but Velasquez would even the game up after scoring with 2:29 to go. Tied up at 12-12 heading into the second OT, Cuesta again briefly took a lead, going ahead 13-14. Cano would tie the game up for Citrus with 1:32 to go, and Adams would score the game winner with 42 seconds left to give Citrus the victory.

In the win, Velasquez would lead all scorers with six goals. Cano would have his best offensive output of the year with four scores. Wong would chip in with a game high three assists, and five exclusions drawn, while sophomore goalie Drake Santos stopped 13 of the 26 shots he faced.

With the win, Citrus improves to 15-10 overall and more importantly 2-1 in WSC play. The Owls will be back in action next Wednesday when they close out the regular season by hosting Santa Monica College at 3:30 PM.