OCC women third at SoCal

CYPRESS -- Orange Coast College’s women’s water polo team dropped

a semifinal match with Golden West College, 9-4, at the Southern

California Regional Championships, then stopped Riverside CC for

third place, 10-6, Saturday at Cypress College.

The Pirates jumped to a 3-2 lead over Golden West after one

quarter, but were turned away thereafter by GWC goalie Danielle

Cassilan, who had 10 saves.

Patty Cardenas led Golden West (28-3) with six goals.

Nicole Sonnenfeld led OCC’s scoring with two goals.

In the third-place game, it was a different story as Sonnenfeld

led the Pirates (26-9) with seven goals, and goalie Heather Deyden

stopped 14 shots. Deyden had six saves in the semifinal.

A 4-1 edge in the second quarter overcame a 2-1 first-quarter

deficit, and Coast put it away with a 3-1 margin in the final period.

OCC and Riverside (24-11), along with finalists Golden West and

Long Beach, move on to the State Tournament next weekend at the USA

Water Polo Training Center in Los Alamitos.