RUSTLERS LOOK TO KEEP WINNING MACHINE ON TRACK              

COSTA MESA – Three things in life seem like a foregone conclusion: Death … taxes … and Golden West atop the Orange Empire Conference men's water polo standings.

For the 32^nd straight season, the Rustlers again sit atop the OEC pile of teams as the 2021 Orange Empire Conference Men's Water Polo Championships kick off on Thursday and again on Saturday at Orange Coast College.

The top-seeded Rustlers (21-1 overall, 5-0 in the OEC), state champions for the past four seasons, and the No. 2 seeded Saddleback College Bobcats (24-5, 4-1) have earned first-round byes this year and will play in the afternoon on Thursday against the winners of the morning matchups between No. 4 Riverside (9-13, 2-3) vs. No. 5 Cypress (9-8, 1-4) and No. 3 Orange Coast (14-6, 3-2) and No. 6 Fullerton (2-17, 0-5). RCC and Cypress will kick things off at 9 a.m. with the OCC/Fullerton matchup at 10:20 a.m. GWC will play at 1 p.m., followed by Saddleback at 2:20 p.m.

The winner of both semifinal matches will play for the OEC title on Saturday, beginning at 1:50 p.m. with the losing teams from the semis in the third-place game at 11:10 a.m.

While the kingpin Rustlers do not have any scorers in the OEC's top 10, you can find a plethora of GWC net-fillers the rest of the way, including team-leader Felipe Ferreira (35) and Itamar Kolodny (32), followed by Augi Macchi (27), Srboljub Filipovic (25), Konstantinos Koulouris (25), Eamon Hennessey (23) and Andrew Higginson (22).

GWC's goalkeeper corps has been led by freshman Garrett Henderson who has 80 saves and a 15-1 record in 17 matches played (46 quarters).

For the No.2 Bobcats, they have been top-heavy in goal scoring for most of the season, with the foursome of Andrew Barnuevo (82 goals), Jack Stevens (70), Alec Isaacman (53) and Dylan Gallegos (49) as the Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 6 goal scorers in the entire Orange Empire Conference. Only Cypress' Cameron Davidson (88 goals) has a number higher than any of the Bobcat scorers.

In goal, Saddleback's Nathan James has carried the majority of the workload in 2021 with 86 saves and 15 wins over 20 contests this year.

Another sleeper team to keep an eye on is the No. 3 seed Orange Coast College Pirates. Under the guidance of first-year coach Dan Matulis, the Pirates have really shown a strong improvement up and down the lineup. Freshman attacker Dane Howell leads the OCC arsenal with 47 goals, while in net, Benjamin Matz (65 saves, 21 quarters played) leads a trio of net-minders that include fellow freshmen Ethan Harris (74 saves in 33 quarters) and Henry Szczuka (52 saves in 15 quarters).