Valley Ends Owls Season in OT

Huntington Beach, CA - For the second straight season, conference rival Los Angeles Valley College ended the Citrus College Men's Water Polo team's season in the Southern California regionals. This year, the Owls had to score late to send the game into overtime, before running out of gas in the extra two frames in a 18-16 setback.

 The Owls got exactly the start they wanted getting goals from freshmen Ian Schubert and Jonathan Wong along with a score by sophomore James Adams to run out to a 3-1 lead after the first quarter. Valley would try to mount a comeback in the second quarter, scoring four goals after being held to one in the first eight minutes, but Wong scored three times and Adams twice more in the second quarter as Citrus went into halftime up 8-5.

Things turned South in the third quarter, when Citrus only managed a pair of goals, one by sophomore Vincent Edwards and the other by Adams, while Valley out scored the Owls 5-2 to send the game into the final quarter tied up at 10-10. In the fourth, Valley surged ahead, but a goal by Wong with 11 seconds left would send the game into overtime tied at 14-14. 

In the first overtime, freshman Paniotis Giannoulias kept the Owls in things, as the final normal overtime saw the two teams start at a 15-15 stalemate. In the second overtime, Citrus ran out of gas, while the Monarchs surged ahead with a 3-1 quarter to seal the victory.

In the loss, Citrus was paced by Wong who had eight goals and four assists. Adams added four scores and three assists, while sophomore James Cano handed out four assists. With the loss, Citrus' 2016 season comes to a close with a 17-12 mark.