The Southwestern College women’s water polo team is off to a 4-2 start to the 2019 season after winning both its games in last Friday’s mini-tournament on campus.
Southwestern defeated Pasadena City by a score of 8-4 and swam past Chaffey, 9-4, in the four-team gathering.
The two-game sweep built on the team’s 2-2 showing in the Saddleback tournament Sept. 6-7 in which the Lady Jaguars defeated Rio Hondo(17-2) and Saddleback (11-9) and lost to Modesto (6-2) and Golden West (17-2).
SWC coach Alissa Mashburn is excited about her team’s positive start.
“We have nine recruits coming in and three returners – we’re way optimistic for this season,” Mashburn said. “We won five games last year; we already have four wins so far.”
In other words, the Lady Jags have a lot to be excited about.
Grossmont College also participated in last Friday’s intimate four-team event. The Lady Griffins defeated Chaffey and Pasadena City by scores of 17-8 and 15-2, respectively.
Southwestern and Grossmont meet Wednesday, Sept. 25, in a PCAC conference game at the Kroc Center. Game time is 2 p.m.
“Grossmont looks strong,” Mashburn said.
Tess Johnson (Eastlake) led SWC with three goals and two assists in the win over Pasadena City while Caitlin Torres (Hilltop) added two goals and one assist. Daniela Diaz (Hilltop), Savannah Collum (Hilltop) and Jasmyn Austin (Bonita Vista) each scored one goal in the game.
Odette Ortega (Eastlake) and Julissa Diaz (Eastlake) combined for seven goalie saves.
Austin was the high point scorer for the Lady Jags in the win over Chaffey with four goals and one assist while Julissa Diaz contributed one goal and two assists. Other goal scorers included Alma Castillo (Eastlake), Collum, Torres and Lauryn Rockwell (Mar Vista).
Ortega made eight saves in four quarters of play.
Through six games, Johnson leads the team in scoring with eight goals and nine assists for 17 points, followed by Austin with nine goals and four assists for 13 points. Torres ranks third in team scoring with six goals and five assists for 11 points, followed by Jones with seven goals and three assists for 10 points.
Julissa Diaz, a freshman, leads the team defensively with 20 steals.
Southwestern continues PCAC play with a home game against Palomar College on Oct. 2, starting at 2 p.m.
Madelyn Ward (Granite Hills) scored four goals in Grossmont’s win over Pasadena City while teammate Jasmine Miller (Valhalla) contributed three goals. Miller lit up the scoreboard with 10 goals in the win over Chaffey while Ward tacked on three goals.
The Lady Griffins improved to 5-1 following last Friday’s mini-tournament. Grossmont’s only loss this season has been to Fullerton, 16-4, in the Saddleback tournament.
Men’s water polo:
Jaguars looking for improvement after first tournament of season
The Southwestern College men’s water polo team opened its season by competing in last weekend’s Mt. SAC Invitational. The Jaguars finished 0-4 in their four games but showed a glimmer of optimism.
Southwestern opened the two-day event with a 25-1 loss to a powerful Mt. SAC team, then faced Santa Monica in a much more competitive contest, dropping a 16-14 match-up.
“Mt. SAC was stacked and there was no way we were going to beat them,” SWC head coach Jose Perez said. “But that was only the first game. In the game against Santa Monica, they fed off our mistakes. We had 14 turnovers.”
The Jags played two games on Saturday, falling 14-12 to Rio Hondo and 16-6 to El Camino.
“We were tied and we made a few mistakes (against Rio Hondo),” Perez said. “They took the lead by two goals and never let it go.
“Against El Camino, we were down to nine players and playing our fourth game in two days. It was a long weekend for the team. They were tired. But they learned a lot about water polo such as passing under pressure and body positioning.”
Jacob Johnston (Eastlake) scored the lone SWC goal in the loss to Mt. SAC while Jeremy Longworth (Mar Vista) picked up the assist.
Longworth scored six goals on nine shots in the game against Santa Monica while Bryce Heber (Mar Vista) recorded four goals and three assists. Jorge Salina (Bonita Vista) scored two goals while Jared Fuentes (Castle Park) collected a goal and assist. Jose Nobles (Otay Ranch) scored one goal while Andy Becerra (Hilltop) had one assist.
Alexander Uribe (La Jolla) made 10 saves while allowing 16 goals.
Longworth (six goals, one assist) and Heber (five goals, one assist) keyed the SWC offense in the setback to Rio Hondo. Nobles had one goal and one assist while Uribe and Johnston both recorded an assist.
Uribe made 17 saves while allowing 14 goals.
Nobles led the Jags with a pair of goals in the final game of the tournament while Jorge Clayton (Castle Park) picked up a goal and assist. Johnston, Salina and Longworth each scored one goal.
Uribe made 13 saves while allowing 16 goals.
Longworth (13 goals, two assists) and Heber (nine goals, four assists) are the early season team leaders for Southwestern, which faces off PCAC conference play Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 3:30 p.m. at the Kroc Center to cap a women’s-men’s doubleheader at the pool.
Grossmont is the defending PCAC men’s champion. The Griffins are 2-2 after defeating Rio Hondo (16-10) and Crafton Hills (25-5) at the Miramar College mini invitational on Sept. 14 and dropping contests to Concordia University (31-6) and University of Redlands (21-12) in a pair of non-conference games Saturday at the University of Redlands.
“It’s a good test for us to see if we learned anything from the weekend,” Perez said of Wednesday’s PCAC opener.
SWC plays four games in the San Diego Mesa tournament this Friday-Saturday, Sept. 27-28.
The Jaguars host Palomar College in a conference match-up Oct. 2 at 3:30 p.m.
Women’s soccer:
Southwestern scores first conference win with strong second-half attack
Southwestern College’s women’s soccer team made history the last two seasons with exceedingly strong showings on the pitch. The Lady Jaguars return four players from last year’s 12-6-4 team, so head coach Carolina Soto acknowledged it’s taken a while for the team to start meshing on the field.
Tuesday’s PCAC match against visiting San Diego City College proved Southwestern is headed in the right direction after netting two second-half goals to prevail 2-0. It was the first win in conference play for the Lady Jags after opening with a pair of 1-1 draws against MiraCosta and Palomar.
“It was a rough start for us – we should have won both those matches,” Soto said. “We just couldn’t finish.”
Norma Kascinta (Hilltop) and Isabella Ferreira (Palo Verde) both scored goals in Tuesday’s home match. The game was scoreless at the half, though SWC pressed action to start the second half and was rewarded for its effort.
“We’re starting to come together,” Soto said. “We lost 1-0 to Santiago Canyon when they were ranked third (in the state) at the start of the season. We played some very good teams before we started conference play.
“Today we finally put the ball away. I think we are coming more together. But I’ll take this 2-0 win.”
Janeth Barajas (Castle Park) and Kascinta previously scored goals in the team’s opening two PCAC matches. Barajas and Kascinta both have scored two goals on the season.
Southwestern (1-0-2 in conference, 2-5-2 overall) plays its next two PCAC matches on the road: Friday (Sept. 27) at Imperial and Oct. 1 at San Diego Miramar. The Lady Jags return home to host Grossmont on Oct. 4. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at DeVore Stadium.
Men’s soccer:
Jags nip Pasadena City, 3-2, to close out four-game homestand
Southwestern College concluded a four-game home stand with a 2-2 record after topping visiting Pasadena City, 3-2, in a non-conference match-up on Tuesday (Sept. 24).
The Jaguars kicked off the homestand with a 4-1 loss to San Bernardino Valley on Sept. 13 and followed that with a 4-2 win over East Los Angeles on Sept. 17. Southwestern dropped a 2-0 contest to Orange Coast College last Friday before hosting Pasadena City.
Tuesday’s victory raised the Jaguars overall record to 2-6-1. The team had started the season 0-4-1 before picking up its first win of 2019 to kick off the four-game homestand.
Southwestern hits the road for a non-conference game at Cypress on Friday (Sept. 27) before hosting Palomar on Oct. 1 (3 p.m. start) to kick off PCAC play.
Anthony Mendoza (Otay Ranch) opened scoring in Tuesday’s match, assisted by Kyo Adachi (Chula Vista), in the 51st minute after the teams had battled through a scoreless first half. Pasadena City tied the score in the 67th minute on a goal by Carlos Navarro, assisted by Jared Hernandez.
The hosts scored the next two goals to go up 3-1. Francisco Moreno (I High Virtual) made the score 2-1 in the 77th minute, assisted by Adrian Reyes (Eastlake). SWC took a two-goal lead in the 83rd minute as Ricardo Cisneros (Montgomery) scored, assisted by Juventino Garcia Lopez (O’Farrell Charter).
Pasadena City closed out scoring in the 86th minute on a goal by Mario Urbina but could not net the equalizer.
Southwestern out-shot the visitors 10-7, with Jags goalkeeper Jonathan Ledon (UCSD Preuss Academy) credited with five saves.
A total of six yellow caution cards were issued in the game.
Soya Simura (Tokyo) leads SWC in season scoring with two goals and one assist while Reyes and Garcia Lopez both have collected one goal and two assists.
Ledon has posted a 2.00 goals-against average and a 2-2-1 record in five game appearances with a .750 save percentage.
Community College football:
Jaguars storm Victor Valley for 41-17 victory
Southwestern College unleashed a potent offensive attack to overwhelm host Victory Valley, 41-17, Saturday in a non-conference match-up. The visiting Jaguars scored 26 points in the second quarter to take a 32-10 lead into halftime.
Quarterback Josh Owen passed for 354 yards and six touchdowns while completing 15 of 30 attempts.
The Jaguars (2-1) scored all six of their touchdowns through the air.
Tysheid Dixon had five catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns while Davion Johnson had three catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Matthew Linton had four catches for 51 yards and one touchdown while Clay Barganier caught a four-yard touchdown pass.
Southwestern out-gained Victor Valley 431-170 in total offense.
The Jags out-gained the Rams 70-6 in net rushing yards.
Omari Green recorded the longest run of 43 yards for the visitors in the game.
Barganier opened scoring in the game with his short touchdown pass before Victor Valley’s Juan Razo kicked a 25-yard field goal to put the Rams on the scoreboard.
Southwestern tacked on three unanswered touchdowns to zip in front 24-3. Dixon caught a 29-yard scoring pass, Johnson caught a 27-yard scoring pass and Dixon scored on a 78-yard touchdown catch.
Linton caught a 37-yard scoring pass to end the first half.
The Jaguars started the second half with a safety to extend their lead to 34-10.
Victor Valley responded on a 45-yard interception return to narrow the score to 34-17 but Southwestern ended the third quarter with a 69-yard touchdown pass from Owen to Johnson for the final margin of victory.
Southwestern’s defense excelled with one interception, five fumble recoveries, five sacks and 10 tackles for a loss.
Braelen Bettles had two sacks to pace the SWC defense. Will Havird recorded one pick.
Southwestern next plays at Fullerton College, which should provide the team with its stiffest test so far this season. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Yorba Linda High School.
Fullerton defeated Santa Ana, 59-13, on Saturday to improve to 2-1 on the season. Fullerton’s lone loss is 16-7 to Riverside on Sept. 14.
Jag attack
Owen has passed for 566 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Keyland Chapman leads Southwestern with 133 rushing yards while Johnson leads the team with 126 all-purpose yards per game.
Defensively, Bettles and John McCurty are tied for the team lead with 14 tackles.
