The Long Beach City College men's water polo team is just two wins away from capturing the program's 10th overall state title and first since 2013. Despite falling in the Southern California Regional final on Saturday, LBCC earned the South's No. 2 seed for the 2015 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Water Polo State Championship. The two-day, four-team event is set for November 20-21 at Pasadena City College.
All four teams at this year's state tournament return for the third straight season. Long Beach will open state championship play on Friday at 10:30 a.m. against Northern California champion and North No. 1 seed Diablo Valley College of Pleasant Hill. In the other semifinal, Southern California champion and South No. 1 seed Golden West College faces North No. 2 West Valley College of Saratoga at 1:30 p.m.
The winners advance to the state championship final on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. with the third-place game to be played that morning at 9:30 a.m.
Under head coach David Kasa, Long Beach will be making its third consecutive trip to the state championships and 12th over the past 14 years. The Vikings bring a 22-5 overall record to this weekend's state tournament.
LBCC was 2-0 against Diablo Valley this season. Long Beach picked up a 15-10 victory over DVC at the Cuesta Tournament and was a narrow 12-11 winner at the Riverside Tournament. The Vikings have also beaten DVC the past two years in the state championship semifinals. Diablo Valley is 20-12 overall and went 7-0 in conference play to claim the Big 8 championship.
Long Beach did not face West Valley (20-12, 11-0 Coast Conference) this season. LBCC went 1-4 against SoCal rival Golden West in 2015, the Vikings' lone win (9-8) coming in Huntington Beach on October 17.
LBCC earned its spot at the state championships after finishing second at the Southern California Regionals. The Vikings opened the SoCal tournament with a 14-6 victory over Riverside City College. Freshman Giorgio La Rosa (Catania, Italy) scored a game-high eight goals while sophomore Noah Borin (Vista Murrieta HS) had 11 saves.
The Vikings faced rival Cerritos College for the fifth time this season in the Southern California semifinals and earned a convincing 18-12 win to stay perfect against the Falcons. LBCC led 12-6 at halftime and was never threatened. La Rosa, Marton Gorbics (Budapest, Hungary), and Teo Dadic (Dubrovnic, Croatia) all scored four goals for the Vikings. Freshman Nick Wood (Newport Harbor HS) had six saves in goal for LBCC.
Long Beach also played Golden West for the fifth time this year but couldn't come away with its second win. The Rustlers led 6-3 at halftime and never allowed Long Beach to get back in the game as the Vikings lost 10-7 in the Southern California championship final. La Rosa once again led with five goals while Wood posted five saves.
For more information on the CCCAA State Championships, visit www.cccaasports.org.