Second Halves Sink Owls

Walnut, CA -- The Citrus College Women's Water Polo team faced a pair of tough foes on Saturday in the second day of the 2013 Mt. San Antonio College Tournament. The Owls hung tough, but their second halves ended up sinking them as they were out scored 7-2 in the final 16 minutes of play on the day in a pair of losses to Palomar and LA Valley College.

The day started off against Palomar. Citrus actually took a 2-1 lead after the first quarter, but the Comets outscored the Owls 3-1 in the second to take a 4-3 lead at the break. The second half proved to be a defensive struggle. Both teams surrendered a single goal in the third quarter, with the Comets putting the game away for good with a score in the fourth beating Citrus 6-4.

Sophomore Candelaria Bacca had three goals for the Owls in the loss. Freshman goalie Rose Takeuchi had 12 saves in goal.

In the second game the Owls took on their conference rival. Citrus stumbled out of the gate falling behind 3-1 after one quarter of play. The Owls matched all four of the Monarchs' goals in the second though and went into halftime down just 5-7. In the second half, Valley used a big third quarter and a stingy defense that allowed just one total score for the Owls in the entire second half, to post a 12-6 victory.

A trio of sophomores led the Owls effort in that game as Bacca along with Kendra New and Lora Marquez-Salgado all scored twice. Marquez-Salgado added six steals while, New had three.

With the losses Citrus falls to 5-5 on the year.  The Owls will try and regroup quickly, as they open up Western State Conference play on Wednesday when they host Cuesta College at 4:15 PM.