Norwalk, Calif. – The Mt. San Antonio College Men's Water Polo Team faced a tough setback in their final regular season conference matchup, falling to Cerritos College, 14–5, on Wednesday, October 29.
Both teams began the South Coast Conference showdown with 3–1 conference records, setting the stage for a pivotal contest. With the loss, Mt. SAC concludes SCC play in third place at 3–2 (12–9 overall), while Cerritos moves into second at 4–1 (18–9 overall). Long Beach remains atop the standings with a 20–6 overall record and a perfect 5–0 in conference action.
Mt. SAC entered the game ranked No. 6 in the state and No. 4 in Southern California in the latest CCCWPCA poll. The impact of this loss on their ranking remains to be seen as postseason play approaches.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Cerritos came out strong, jumping ahead 3–0 with goals from Julian Almanza, Christian Acosta, and Drew Gilbert before Mt. SAC's Trevor Davis and Aidan Gillooly answered to close the gap. The Falcons added one more late goal from Max Lucero to take a 4–2 lead after the first quarter.
Davis struck again early in the second, but Almanza responded with three straight goals as Cerritos extended its lead to 7–3 by halftime.
In the third quarter, Gillooly found the net once more, but the Falcons continued to press with three additional goals — two from Acosta and another from Lucero — to widen the margin to 10–4.
Davis notched his third and final goal in the fourth period, but Cerritos sealed the win with four more scores from Acosta, Almanza, and Lucero to close out the 14–5 victory.
Despite solid efforts from Davis (3 goals) and Gillooly (2 goals), the Mounties struggled to generate balanced offense against a strong Cerritos defense.
NEXT UP:
Mt. SAC will compete in their final tournament of the season on October 31 at Southwestern College. They're scheduled to play Grossmont at 11:30AM and Ventura at 4:30 PM.
STAY CONNECTED:
Follow Mt. SAC Men's Water Polo on twitter @mtsacaquatics or Instagram /mtsacaquatics/
Follow Mt. SAC Athletics on twitter @MtSAC_athletics Instagram /mtsac_athletics/ or Facebook @Mountie.Athletics
For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.