By John M. Sherrard

(Walnut, CA) With a furious fourth-period comeback, the Mt. SAC Men's Water Polo team tied the game to send it into overtime and held off El Camino, 11-10, to win a South Coast Conference game Wednesday afternoon.

Trailing most of the game, Mt. SAC (5-1, 1-0) tied the game, 9-9, when freshman utility man Matthew Rauch took a pass from sophomore driver Roman Aceres and scored with 1:52 left in regulation.

"They found some little spurts of grit and found a way to pull it off," Mt. SAC Men's Water Polo coach Marc Ruh said. "I love that they found a way."

In the two 3-minute overtime periods, the Mounties never trailed as freshman utility man Christian Martinez scored on a skip shot for their first lead of the OT, 10-9, followed by a goal from Aceres with :25 left in the first OT period for the two-goal lead, 11-9.

"Coach told us someone has to step up and I just happened to be in the right place and take the right shot," Martinez said.

El Camino (1-2, 1-1) closed the gap in the second overtime, 11-10, with a minute left and the defense finished up with a flare for the win.

Freshman goalie Jake Simmons just got his hand on the ball with 30 seconds remaining for a save and Martinez clinched it with a steal with :03 left.

"I think it's good that they rely on me because I rely on them too," Simmons said

Acres led the Mounties with four goals, giving him 17 on the season, tied with teammate Matthew Rauch, who had two in the game, along with Martinez and freshman driver Aiden O'Neil. The four goals by Aceres puts him in the seventh position in the state, along with Rauch.

For the second consecutive game Mt. SAC has trailed by three goals early in the game. But by halftime they climbed back into the game with three second-period goals from Aceres (2) and Rauch to trail, 4-3, at the break.

El Camino took a, 7-5, lead after three periods, but the Mounties doubled up on the Warriors in the final period.

Defensively, the Mounties had 16 steals, including three by freshman utility man Nick Perez and Simmons. Simmons had 24 saves in the game adding to his state-leading 104.

"Jake is keeping us in games and giving us a chance to win," Ruh said.

Next up for the Mounties is its annual tournament this weekend, September 15-16.

Click here for tournament info.

Follow Mt. SAC Men's Water Polo on twitter @mtsacaquatics

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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.