By John M. Sherrard

(Walnut, CA) The Mt. SAC Men's Water Polo Team concluded its season in the recently completed South Coast Conference Championships and placed fourth.
The Mounties began the championships in the opening round with a 19-8 win over Rio Hondo College. They fell to Cerritos 14-7 in the semifinals and lost to El Camino 11-6 in the third-place game.
The Mounties, who finished the season 16-14, failed to qualify for the CCCAA So Cal Regionals for only the fifth time in the last 22 years.
Freshman goalie Jake Simmons finished the season first in saves (478) in the state and was 11th in save percentage (60.6%).
Sophomore driver Roman Aceres was fourth in state with 91  goals, fifth in assists and 24th in steals with 55.
Freshman utility Matthew Rauch was tenth in goals with 78 and 23rd in steals with 56.
Sophomore utility Nicholas Perez finished with 68 goals (22nd in state), 37 assists (24th) and 61 steals (18th) and freshman driver Aiden O'Neil finished 21st in state with 40 assists.
Mt SAC sophomore utility Adrian Hernandez and O'Neil finished with 41 goals on the team.
Freshman utility Christian Martinez (36 steals) and Thomas Carney (43 steals) had 16 goals each and freshman utility Bradley Poma had 11 with 21 steals.
With only eight field players this season the Mounties had quite a season, finishing seventh in the state with 374 goals in 30 games and had 413 steals for No. 4 in the state.

SCC Championship Results
Opening Round
Mt. SAC 19, Rio Hondo 8
Rio Hondo took a quick 1-0 lead in the first minute and again another goal, but behind two goals from Hernandez and a goal each from Carney and Rauch the Mounties led 4-2 after one period.
Four consecutive goals, (two from Perez), to start the second period gave the Mounties an 8-2 lead and they never looked back. Rio scored a goal late in the period to trail 8-3.
The Mounties, led by Hernandez with four and Aceres with three, outscored the Roadrunners 11-5 in the second half for the 19-8 win.
O'Neil led the team with six steals followed by four each from Rauch and Carney.

Semifinals
Cerritos 14, Mt. SAC 7
The Mounties, with goals from Poma, Aceres and O'Neil in the first period trailed 5-3 to the Falcons, but were outscored 5-1 in the second to trail 10-4 at the half.
Cerritos opened the scoring in the third but Hernandez and Aceres scored to close within 11-6 heading into the final period.
Cerritos put the game away with three consecutive goals to start the fourth period to lead 14-6.
Aceres added a late goal for Mt. SAC.
Rauch led the team with four steals and Simmons had 15 saves.

Third Place Game
El Camino 11, Mt. SAC 6
The Mounties took a 4-2 first-period lead on goals by Perez (2 goals), Aceres and O'Neil and led at the half, 4-3.
El Camino, with a strong second half scoring eight goals, came away with the third place finish 11-6.
O'Neil and Martinez scored a goal in each the third and fourth periods for Mt. SAC.
O'Neil and Perez led the Mounties with two goals each.

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