Men's Water Polo: Vikings go on the road to defeat rival Golden West 9-8
The Long Beach City College men's water polo team handed top-ranked Golden West College its first loss of the season as the Vikings edged the rival Rustlers 9-8 on the road on Saturday as part of a big sweep by the LBCC men and women.
It was a big day for Long Beach City College men's and women's water polo as both teams had narrow upset wins at top-ranked Golden West College on Saturday.
"Both teams played really, really well," said LBCC interim head coach David Kasa. "Beating both their men's and women's teams at their place is a big shocker. We did our best to prepare our teams for these games and they just played out of their minds today."
The Viking men got the morning started with a 9-8 non-conference victory over the rival Rustlers to hand Golden West (16-1) its first loss of the season. LBCC led throughout the contest, but had to hold off a four-goal third quarter by the Rustlers.
Freshman Giorgio La Rosa (Catania, Italy) iced the victory with his team-best fourth goal of the game in the fourth quarter to give LBCC a 9-7 advantage. La Rosa added a game-high seven steals while freshman goalie Nick Wood (Newport Harbor HS) posted seven saves. Freshman Teo Dadic (Dubrovnic, Croatia) also chipped in with three goals.
With the win, the LBCC men improved to 13-3. Today marked the third meeting between the nearby state powers. Golden West had earned narrow 8-6 and 9-6 victories over Long Beach in their previous games.
The Vikings are back in action on Wednesday (Oct. 21) at 4:15 p.m. when they travel to L.A. Trade-Tech College for a South Coast Conference game.