Rustlers Claim Sole Possession of First Place with Victory Over Bobcats

Huntington Beach, Calif. - Golden West men's water polo (17-3, 5-0 OEC) defeated the Bobcats (15-3, 4-1 OEC) to stand alone at the top of the conference, 8-6.

The two 4-0 teams met to fight for first place in the Orange Empire Conference at Saddleback College on Wednesday, October 18th. Golden West jumped out to a lead early with goals from Mason Merritt and Tomas De Luca. The Bobcats managed to get one back midway through the first quarter as the visiting team had the one score advantage at the end of the first frame. 

It was a similar boxscore in the second with the Rustlers outscoring the Bobcats 2-1 as Itay Roth and Cody Chastain found the net. Into halftime, Golden West found themselves up by two, 4-2. The visiting team worked hard to keep it that way with Saddleback coming within one in the third. The Bobcats made an end of game push, but it would not be enough to catch Golden West on the scoreboard. The Rustlers would hold Saddleback to six goals and go home with the close win, 8-6.

In the eight Rustlers goals, Roth played a part in three of them as he scored twice and had an assist. Emiliano Tovar and De Luca both found the back of the net twice and kept the pressure on the Saddleback goalkeeper with a combined ten shots. In net, Pablo Souza made 12 key saves off of 18 shots in the close two goal victory. With the win, Golden West now holds sole possession of first place in the OEC and is the only remaining undefeated team in conference play. 

NEXT UP: The Rustlers will host the GWC Tournament from October 20th-21st. Golden West will compete against Sierra College at 7:30am and Cuesta College at 11:00am on Friday, October 20th.