Community College Water Polo : Golden West Loses Match and Bid for Consecutive State Titles
Golden West College’s bid for a second consecutive state water polo title ended Friday as the Rustlers were defeated, 11-10, by Modesto at Merced College.
Modesto, the top-seeded team from the north, meets Long Beach City, No. 1 in the south, today at noon to decide the state title.
The game was even most of the way and tied, 8-8, early in the fourth quarter. Modesto went ahead, 10-8, on goals by Brian Masson, who was the game’s leading scorer with four.
“We’ve had better days,” said Golden West Coach Ken Hamdorf. “We had our chances and we just didn’t do it.”
The Rustlers (25-5) were led on offense by sophomores Scott Larsen and Jason Jeffries, who scored three goals each. Freshman Craig Douglas had two and sophomores Greg Tichy and Peter Buckley one each.
The Rustlers qualified for the state playoffs by finishing second to Long Beach last weekend in the Southern California regionals. Golden West and Long Beach were the top two ranked teams in the state for most of the season.
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