The Long Beach City College men's water polo team earned 18 postseason honors highlighted by freshman Giorgio La Rosa (Catania, Italy) and interim head coach Dave Kasa. But this weekend, LBCC looks to add some hardware to the trophy case as the Vikings are just two wins away from a state championship.
La Rosa has been dominant in his first season with the Vikings. La Rosa was named the Southern California Most Valuable Player as well as the South Coast Conference's Player of the Year on his way to All-American honors. He leads the Vikings with 106 goals heading into the state championships.
Kasa was named the men's Southern California Coach of the Year and was also honored as the South Coast Conference's men's and women's Coach of the Year. In 15 years as part of the LBCC staff, Kasa has now been named coach of the year 10 times.
Joining La Rosa on the All-American team are sophomore Max Taylor (Las Vegas, NV), freshman goalie Nick Wood (Newport Harbor HS), and freshman Teo Dadic (Dubrovnic, Croatia). Taylor and Wood were also named first-team All-Southern California while Dadic was a second-team selection.
Taylor, Wood, and Dadic were joined by freshman Marton Gorbics (Budapest, Hungary) on the All-SCC first team. Sophomores Conor Shuey (Albuquerque, NM) and Tim Aakhus (Bakersfield, CA) were second-team all-conference picks while sophomore Frankie Cervantes (Granite Bay, CA) was named honorable mention.
LBCC is 22-5 overall as the Vikings get set to face Northern California champion Diablo Valley College in the semifinals of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Water Polo State Championship. The match is set for 10:30 a.m. at Pasadena City College.
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.
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.
LBCC looks to capture its 10th state championship overall after last winning in 2013.
Long Beach City College Men's Water Polo – 2015 Postseason Honors (18):
All-American
Giorgio La Rosa
Max Taylor
Nick Wood
Teo Dadic
All-Southern California
Dave Kasa, Coach of the Year
Giorgio La Rosa, Most Valuable Player
Max Taylor, First team
Nick Wood, First team
Teo Dadic, Second team
All-South Coast Conference
Dave Kasa, Coach of the Year
Giorgio La Rosa, Co-Player of the Year
Max Taylor, First team
Nick Wood, First team
Teo Dadic, First team
Marton Gorbics, First team
Conor Shuey, Second team
Tim Aakhus, Second team
Frankie Cervantes, Honorable mention