Mens water polo: OCC grabs its first conference win

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College mens water polo team

outscored Saddleback, 6-0, in the first eight minutes of the match as the

Pirates’ quick start proved to be the difference in their first Orange

Empire Conference victory, 17-9, Wednesday at OCC.

The Pirates lost their season opener at OEC favorite Golden West, last

week. But OCC answered in its second conference match with one of its

better performances of the season.

“That was the best first quarter we’ve played all year,” Pirates Coach

Jason Gall said. “We wanted to come out hard and establish ourselves in

the first minute.”

Freshman Jeffery Sample threw in six goals as he went for four scores

in the Pirates’ 6-0 run.

“Our last couple of games we have been playing as individuals and this

is the first game that we have really played as a team,” Sample said.

OCC defeated Saddleback on Saturday in the Cuesta tournament, 9-6, so

some players and Gall expected that the match would be tight. But Sample

is confident that the Pirates are a new team.

“They (Saddleback) were the same team. We just came out faster,” he

said. “They were trying to play catch-up the whole game and we just

stayed ahead of them.”

OCC held an 8-3 lead into halftime. And Saddleback came within five

after Jonny Geiger scored with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter to

trail the Pirates, 10-5.

OCC increased the score an eight-goal margin when Sample scored his

final goal. With a little over a minute to play in the game, Sample put

it away in a one-on-one against goalie Mike Lockwood. The score showed

that Sample and the Pirates were playing aggressively.

“It was all about the intensity,” said Danny Ciecek, who scored the

game’s first goal. “We’re pretty much our own worst enemy. When we’re

ready to play we can pretty much beat anyone.”

Eight Pirates scored, including Steve Dugger, who tallied three, as

well as Jeffrey Pratt and Christopher Lancellotti, who both finished with

two.

The Pirates’ next game is Sept. 28, when Coast hosts Rio Hondo at 3

p.m.