West Valley Lone Northern Team Remaining, Three Southern Teams Advance to State Championship Semifinals

The 2023 3C2A Men's Water Polo Championships kicked off today and featured an exciting overtime contest and three sizable victories. The top-seeded West Valley College Vikings are the lone northern squad to advance, while the south's top-seeded Golden West College Rustlers, the second-seeded Long Beach City College Vikings and the third-seeded Cuesta College Cougars punched their tickets to a semifinal berth.

SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17

GAME ONE: North's top-seeded West Valley boat races south's fourth-seeded Cerritos, 25-9.

The Vikings were no match for the Falcons as a nine-goal first quarter set the tone early. West Valley's Ethan MacLeod dominated the offensive front with six goals, while Taine Pickering followed with four scores. Seven other players scored at least one goal with Berkecan Yalcin, Shayan Rezvani and Mateja Cetkovic each humming home three scores.

Cerritos was led by Timothy Robles who found the back of the net four times while also dishing out a pair of assists.

GAME TWO: South's second-seeded Long Beach leads coast-to-cost over third-seeded American River, 16-6

The Vikings jumped out to a two-score lead and left the Beavers in the rear view mirror in a hurry. American River was down just two goals at the end of the first period, but a potent Viking offense was too much to handle.

Seven different players scored at least one LBCC goal with Sandro Pueyo leading the way with six scores. Colley Ochoa netted three goals, while Michael Minera and Beau Gindron each chipped in two scores.

GAME THREE: South's top-seeded Golden West handles fourth-seeded Modesto, 18-4

The Rustlers hammered a sturdy nail in the Pirates coffin after bursting out of the gates on a 12-0 run that stretch into the second quarter.  

Golden West had 11 different players score at least one goal with Jose Pedro Carvalho leading the way with four scores. Emilio Tovar was the next-best weapon with three goals. Antonio Doria and Vincent Labonte chipped in two goals as well.

GAME FOUR: South's third-seeded Cuesta outlasts pesky second-seeded Sierra in overtime, 17-13 (OT).

It was unquestionably the game of the tournament as Cuesta and Sierra battled it out in an exciting shootout.

Cuesta held a 4-2 lead after the opening frame that featured four different goal scorers. Sierra leaned on two goals from Hank Wildenradt sandwiched between the Cougars' four goals.

Cuesta struck first in the second quarter with two goals, but Cuesta responded with two goals on their own. Cuesta's Dante Ianora netted back-two-back goals inside the two minute mark, but Sierra's Chris Nihart scored a goal in the final 10 second before halftime to trim Cuesta's lead to three goals.

Sierra entered the fourth quarter down by four scores, but five-straight scores from Sierra knotted the contest at 11-all with under four minutes remaining. Wildenradt handed Sierra their first lead of the game with a go-ahead goal with two ticks over a minute remaining. Hosever, Cuesta's Finley had the last laugh in regulation by firing home a score to tie the game at 12-12 to force overtime.

Cuesta went on to outscore the Wolverines 5-3 in the final overtime frame leading to the win.

(Nicho DellaValle, 3CWPCA)