(Walnut, CA) With a win and a loss on day one (Thursday, Nov. 4) of the South Coast Conference Men's Water Polo Championships, the Mounties are set to play in a third-place game Saturday (Nov. 6) at the Marie T. Mills Aquatics Center.
In a preliminary game on Thursday morning, Mt. SAC defeated Chaffey, 18-7, but fell to Cerritos, 10-9, in the second game of the day.
The loss was crucial to the Mounties, as they missed an opportunity to play in the SCC championship game against Long Beach City College.
Instead, Cerritos will take on LBCC for the SCC Tournament title.
Mt. SAC will play in the third-place game against Rio Hondo, while Chaffey plays El Camino for fifth place.
Mt. SAC 18, Chaffey 7
Aidan Murphy led the Mounties with a season-high seven goals, while Luke Noblett and Adam Dow added four goals each.
Diego Lopez, Ivan Morales, and Aaron Hernandez each scored a goal. Goalkeeper Noah Stark, who made seven saves, picked up his 11th win of the season.
The Mounties scored six goals in the first period, leading 6-3, and added another five goals in each of the third and fourth periods for the big win.
Cerritos 10, Mt. SAC 9
With the game tied 9-9 in the waning seconds, Cerritos scored the go-ahead goal and took away any chance of the Mt. SAC Men's Water Polo team from advancing to the South Coast Conference Championship game.
With 2:35 remaining in the game, Murphy gave the Mounties a 9-8 lead on an assist from Noblett.
However, Cerritos (19-10) scored two goals in the last two minutes to steal the win away from Mt. SAC (11-16)
Murphy led the Mounties with three goals and Trevor Ingersoll had two. Single goals were scored by Kyle Kurtz, Noblett, Lopez, and Dow.
The CCCAA So Cal Regional Championships, beginning Thursday, November 11 at Southwestern College in Chula Vista.
Follow Mt. SAC Men's Water Polo on Twitter @mtsacaquatics
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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.