Orange Coast College

Water Polo: OCC men advance to OEC championship; women fall to Fullerton

Friday, November 02, 2007

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Orange Coast College men's water polo team jumped out to an early lead and held on for a 10-8 win over Riverside in the semifinals of the Orange Empire Conference Water Polo Championships on Friday, held at Golden West College.

The OCC women lost its opening round game to Fullerton 7-2 on Thursday at GWC and will take on Saddleback in the fifth-place game on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m.

In Friday's men's semifinals, the Pirates (14-5) jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first quarter, but the Tigers, led by four goals from Srdan Millic, cut the deficit to 9-8 after three quarters.

But from there, it was a game of defense and the Pirates held the Tigers off, shutting them out the rest of the way.

Casey Satchell led OCC with four goals, while Jared Yocam added three. Solo tallies were provided by Joe Krone, Blaine Gibbons and Sean Cruz.

With the win, OCC will advance to the championship game, where it will take on rival Golden West, which defeated the Pirates 12-6 earlier this week at OCC.

For the OCC women, the Pirates were hanging tough with the Hornets, trailing by just two goals (3-1) heading into the fourth quarter. But Fullerton found its offense and came through with four goals down the stretch to pull away.

Maura Haynes and DeeJaye Trobman each had goals for the Pirates (11-12). They will take on Saddleback for fifth place at 9 a.m. on Saturday at GWC.