Pirates earn SoCal Regional runner-up after stellar weekend

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's water polo team put forth a valiant effort throughout this weekend at the 2024 3C2A Southern California Regional Water Polo Championships at the OCC Aquatics Pavilion.

Hosting the best teams in Southern California for three days, the Pirates (21-12) kicked things off with a 13-9 win over Saddleback on Friday, earning a spot in next week's 3C2A State Tournament, which kicks off on Friday at Long Beach City College.

On Saturday, Coast and Long Beach City put on a water polo battle for the ages, with the Pirates prevailing, 11-9 in overtime to earn a spot in the Regional Championship. There, Coast pushed top-seeded Golden West four over three quarters of play, before the Rustlers pulled away late for a 12-10 win over OCC to earn the SoCal Regional title.

The Orange Empire Conference was well represented on Friday as another conference clash saw the No. 3 Pirates upend the No. 6-seeded Bobcats (19-15). Sam Brooks and Sawyer McCormick paced the OCC attack with four goals each, while Cade Zeilinger and Dylan Morris each added two. Goalie Roman Christenot was solid for the Pirates with six saves. For the Bobcats, Matthew Arellano led the way with three goals, while Tyler Kiklas tossed in a pair.

Saturday's semifinal needed some extra time, but in the end, the host Pirates earned a spot in the title game with an overtime win over the Vikings. Coast led 8-7 with less than 30 seconds remaining, but Long Beach's Thomaz Figueiredo picked a great time for his lone goal, tying things at 8. Diogo Checchinato's key save at the buzzer forced overtime, where, after a 10-9 lead after the first three-minute OT, OCC's Jason Honey buried a shot into the back of the net with 43 seconds remaining to give the Pirates some insurance. Christenot kept Coast in the game early with several stellar stops, including one on a penalty kick late in the fourth. He finished with 14 saves, while Checchinato had 13. Cade Zeilinger led OCC with four goals, while Sandro Pueyo led LBCC with three.

Finally in the final, the Pirates were within just one goal at 9-8 through three quarters of play, but that would be as close as they would get as three fourth-quarter goals helped keep the Rustlers ahead for good. Michael Rodgers had three goals to pace GWC's attack, while Tomas De Luca and Cody Chastain each tossed in two. Orange Coast was paced offensively by McCormick and Zeilinger, who each had three goals. Rustler goalie Pablo Souza notched four saves, while Christenot tallied five and was Coast's top player on Day 3.