Pirates knock off Vikings to force Orange Empire matchup for 3C2A Men's Water Polo Championship

Tournament Central l Photos

MERCED - Much of the sideline talk at the 3C2A Men's Water Polo Championships has focused on an anticipated fifth-consecutive state title battle between West Valley and eight-time defending champion Golden West. Orange Coast relegated all the talk to mere conjecture with an epic 11-10 semifinal win over WVC Friday morning at Merced College.

Golden West upheld its end of the equation with a methodical 15-8 victory over Long Beach City in the other semifinal to set up an all-Orange Empire Conference championship Saturday at 11:15 am at the Ben Pollitt Aquatics Center. The Rustlers will hoist their ninth consecutive championship trophy with a win.

Championship Saturday begins with the third-place game between West Valley and Long Beach City at 9:30 a.m., followed by the Golden West vs. Orange Coast championship at 11:15 a.m. Golden West has won eight straight state titles and 31 overall while Long Beach City, the last team other than the Rustlers to win a state championship (2015) is looking for its 10th. They're the only two programs to win state titles since 2011.

(S2) Orange Coast over (N1) West Valley 11-10
Friday morning's opener was easily the tournament's closest and most entertaining contest. Sawyer McCormick put Orange Coast (27-10) on the board first, but Yonatan Yoffenbratel Nadler evened it up on the next WVC possession. After Cade Zeilinger made it 2-1 OCC, Ali Cinar Nuray and Makar Salnikov scored to give West Valley (31-4) a 3-2 lead after one.

The Vikings led 5-4 at the break, as each team scored twice in the second. The third quarter proved pivotal for both teams. Goals from Nadler, Salnikov and Peter Kohari gave West Valley its largest lead of the game at 8-5 with 3:01 left in the quarter. Over the next three minutes, the Pirates scored four times, including three in a row from Jack McCann - twice on power plays -  to vault into a 9-8 lead heading to the final stanza.

Peter Kohari scored to tie it at 9-9, OCC's Jackson Steele tallied at 7:27 for a 10-9 Pirate lead, and then Salnikov made it 10-10 twenty seconds later. The Pirate defense shut out the explosive Viking offense, the state's top-scoring unit, the rest of the way. OCC drew an exclusion with just over a minute to go, and McCann buried the power play clincher off a Zeilinger assist to give the Pirates the win.

McCann paced the Pirates with four goals, while McCormick had two. West Valley was led by Salnikov's four and two each from Nadler and Kohari.

(S1) Golden West over (S3) Long Beach 15-8
The Rustlers (36-2) advanced to their ninth straight state championship game with their seven-goal win over Long Beach City (24-8). After sprinting to a 4-2 first-quarter lead, the Rustlers caught fire in the second, outscoring the Vikings 7-3. Lucca Van Der Woude and Jack Wright led the GWC scoring outburst with a pair of goals each, and the Rustlers led 11-5 at the half.

Each team scored three times in the third, which ended with the Rustlers on top 14-8. A snail-paced fourth quarter saw GWC shutting out LBCC 1-0 and advancing to Championship Saturday with the 15-8 victory.

Van Der Woude led the Rustlers with five goals, followed by four from Wright and two apiece from Joao Goncalves and Michael Rodgers.

(Matt Folsom, CCCSIA)