(Glendora, CA) Let there be goals! An astounding 64 goals were scored by the Mt. SAC Men's Water Polo Team in the Citrus College Tournament September 7, 8 and the result was a 3-1 record.

On day one of the tourney the Mounties went 2-0 with wins over Fullerton (14-11) and Santa Monica (17-9). Day two they split a pair, losing the first game 14-10 to Grossmont and concluding the tournament with a 23-6 thumping of San Diego Miramar.

"The team is averaging 15.2 goals per game, which is certainly enough to win any game," Mt. SAC (3-2) Water Polo coach Marc Ruh said. "The key will be for us to shore up the defense and get some more stops early in the games.

"We saw some improvement in our defense throughout the weekend, but there is still a lot of work to be done."

Mt. SAC 14, Fullerton 11

Utility man Jarrett Barker, who scored five goals in his first college game against Long Beach CC, continued the trend and had six in the win over Fullerton. He also led the team in steals with seven.

Scoring two goals each were attackers Jake Marsden (A, 2 Stl.) and Justin Swafford (A). Freshman goalie Andres Mercado-Madrigal made 15 saves and won his first college game.

Mt. SAC 17, Santa Monica 9

Utility man Jonathan Heredia (2 Stl.) scored nearly half of the Mounties goals with eight, while Barker added three goals and driver Aidan O'Neill (2 A, 2 Stl.) scored twice.

The Mounties took a 10-3 halftime lead as Heredia scored four times. He continued his assault on the net, scoring the first three goals of the third period to give the Mounties a commanding 13-3 lead.

Santa Monica outscored the Mounties 6-4 the rest of the way, but still fell short.

Goalie Jake Simmons, who had seven saves, won his first game of the season for the Mounties.

Grossmont 14, Mt. SAC 10

Eight different Mounties scored, but it wasn't enough as they lost their first game of the tournament. Heredia and Barker (4 Stl.) each scored twice for Mt. SAC, with six other Mounties scoring one each. Swafford had three assists and a steal, while driver Eli Lew had three steals.

Grossmont built up a 9-3 lead at the half. Four different Mounties (Heredia, Noah Brokaw, Edgar Cueva and Noah Slack) scored in the third period, but the Griffins tallied five to double the lead to 14-7.

The Mounties made it interesting with three unanswered goals by Brad Poma, Barker and Jeremiah Hernandez in the final period to close within four, but fell short.

Mt. SAC 23, San Diego Miramar 6

The Mounties finished the tourney with a lopsided win with 12 players scoring goals. Barker led the way with five goals and Slack added three. As a team they accounted for 24 steals in the game.

"This week proved to be filled with a lot of learning for all of us," Ruh said.

"We feel like we are learning a new style of game now, as new rule revisions and interpretations were released by the officials the night before our first game of the season."

That all came about prior to the Mounties first South Coast Conference game against a tough opponent, Long Beach City College.

Ruh added that the first week was challenging as "……we had five games in four days and I feel like we are getting a handle on how the game is being called now, as well as learning how the team reacts to sudden change.

"We are also seeing some chemistry being created by team members and our goalies (Simmons and Mercado-Madrigal) have been playing very well in the net and we look forward to their continued growth."

Beginning Friday September 14 the Mounties will host the 45th Annual Water Polo Tournament at the Marie T. Mills Aquatic Center.

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