Bobcats sweep through home tourney

The Saddleback women's water polo team opened the season with four straight wins at the Saddleback Invitational on Friday and Saturday at the Saddleback Aquatics Center.  The Bobcats are 4-0 for the first time since 2018.

Saddleback defeated Ventura College (11-10), Palomar College (12-6), Southwestern College (22-1) and El Camino College (20-4) in the tournament. 

Saddleback opened by winning a tight battle with Ventura.  The Bobcats scored the winning goal with 38 seconds remaining when Amanda McFadden found the back of the net for an 11-10 lead.  McFadden and Marin Hickson both finished with three goals apiece to lead the team.

Saddleback then finished Friday with a 12-6 win over Palomar.  Hickson led the troops with four goals and five steals as the Bobcats never trailed in the game.

Saturday proved to be a dominating day for Saddleback.  The Bobcats outscored Southwestern and El Camino 42-5 on the afternoon.   Saddleback had a 12-0 lead on Southwestern at the half and Carson Mackenzie led the team with five goals in the game.  The Bobcats then received three goals apiece from Hickson and Akemi Nakachi in blowing past El Camino in the final game of the day.

Hickson finished with a team-high 12 goals for the weekend, followed by Mackenzie (10), Nakachi (6) and Aliyah Burns (6).  Goalies Kalypso Fish and and Abigail Wallace held down the fort in the nets, allowing just 21 goals in four games.    

Saddleback last started 4-0 in 2018 when the program started the season with five straight wins.  The Bobcats will try to make it five in a row on Wednesday when they open Orange Empire Conference play against Orange Coast College.  Saddleback and OCC are scheduled to start at 3:00 PM inside the Saddleback Aquatics Center.