Coast wins, barely, 5-4

Orange Coast College’s women’s water polo team survived their

tightest scare of the season on the JC level Friday, just getting past

host Merced in a semifinal at the State Championships, 5-4, to earn a

berth in the finals today against Riverside at 2:30 p.m.

Coast battled back from a 3-1 deficit before halftime and played most

of the game gingerly with two of its top four scorers - Devon Wright and

Erica Nicholson - in danger of disqualification.

Each picked up a pair of ejections in the first quarter. One more

kickout for either would have been an automatic disqualification for the

rest of the game.

Friday’s victory over the Blue Devils was Coast’s first one-goal win

of the season as it improved to 35-1, losing only in a game against UC

Irvine.

Wright and Tia Montalvo each scored twice before a hostile, sellout

crowd, and Neisha Hoagland scored one goal. Hoagland led the Pirates with

five steals and Wright had three. Christine McDonald had two assists.

Merced bows out with a 28-6 record.

OCC goalie Heather Deyden stopped eight shots.

STATE TOURNAMENT

Semifinal

Orange Coast 5, Merced 4

Merced 1 2 0 1 - 4 Orange Coast 0 2 2 1 - 5

Merced - Mowrer 2, Rucker 1, Rose 1. Saves - Hall 6.

OCC - Montalvo 2, Wright 2, Hoagland 1. Saves - Deyden 8.