Can anyone dethrone Golden West?

The 2023 men's water polo season kicked up this past week and Orange Empire Conference play will start later this week.  Can anyone touch Golden West College, or is the rest of the conference playing for second place?

Golden West is coming off its sixth straight state title and 29th overall.  The Rustlers have now won 33 straight conference titles.  On very few occasions was Golden West challenged along the way for an OEC title, but this season a couple of teams look as if they could give the Rustlers a game.

Golden West started the season 6-0 this past weekend when they hosted the Golden West Invitational.  The Rustlers got a test in game two against Cerritos College, but ended up turning back the Falcons 10-7.  Outside of that GWC was its normal dominating force, outscoring the competition 110-32.  Golden West had three players with double-digit scoring in the tournament in Itay Roth (15), Tomas De Luca (13) and Emiliano Tovar (12).

Saddleback also played in the Golden West tournament and had a great showing, going 4-0.  The Bobcats played many of the same teams that Golden West played, outscoring them 67-37 in the process.  Saddleback finished third at the state finals two years ago and made it to the Southern California semifinals last season.  They were led over the weekend by Andrew Barnuevo, who lit up the scoreboard 23 times in four games.  Last season's state leader in goals-scored Donald Robertson (160) finished with 13 goals in three games.  

Another program off to a solid start is Cypress, who hosted a tournament the previous weekend and went 3-1.  The lone hiccup for the Chargers came against San Diego Mesa, who seems like a frontrunner in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference.  Cypress is led in goals by the trio of Porter Rosenlof (14), Aydann Hambruch (13) and Diego Roman (11).

Riverside City is 2-1 to start the season with the lone loss coming against UC Merced.  RCC scored 49 goals in its other two games against Merced College and Diablo Valley College.  The Tigers are led on offense by Lennon Franklin, who has 11 goals in three games so far this season.  

Orange Coast has had one of the top aquatics programs for years, winning five state titles in swimming since 2006.  The Pirates are hoping that talent spills over onto the water polo team in 2023.  OCC is 3-2 so far this season, going 2-2 at the Golden West Tournament.  Jacob Muller and Ryan O'Donovan have 10 goals apiece to lead the Pirates through five games.  

Fullerton College has played one game so far, falling to Santa Monica 17-5.  The Hornets are looking to rebound from an 0-21-1 season in 2022.  

Release by Brad Hoiseth, Saddleback SID