The Southwestern College men’s water polo team recorded a number of program firsts last season. Sophomore Nick Howard became the first Jaguar to earn both Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Southern California JC All-American honors in the same season.
“We seem to have an upgrade (in the program) each year,” explained SWC head coach Jorge Ortega, whose Jaguars also finished third in last year’s PCAC championship playoff tournament.
Program firsts keep rolling in this season. Southwestern defeated arch nemesis Grossmont, 16-12, in the teams’ opening PCAC regular season match-up on Sept. 9. Ortega noted it was the first time that the Jags had beaten the highly regarded Griffins, perennial PCAC champions and regular participants in the Southern California playoffs.
“I think we broke a 30-something losing streak to them that goes back to at least 1999,” Ortega said.
First-round PCAC regular season highlights also include a 15-8 win at Miramar on Monday and a 17-16 loss to visiting Palomar on Sept. 16.
Southwestern dropped a 20-12 decision to visiting San Diego Mesa on Wednesday that kept the team from challenging Palomar for the loop lead.
Palomar finished first-round PCAC play 4-0, followed by Mesa (3-1), Southwestern (2-2), Grossmont (1-3) and Miramar (0-4).
Wednesday’s loss dropped the Jaguars’ season record to 4-4. SWC was coming off four games last weekend at the 42nd annual Mt. SAC tournament, plus Monday’s PCAC game against Miramar. Inclusive of the game against Palomar, Southwestern was playing it seventh game in a week’s span on Wednesday.
The Jags held two early leads in the game, which was tied four times before Mesa pulled away to lead by six goals just before halftime. The victorious Olympians outscored Southwestern 15-7 in the middle two periods.
Ortega cited fatigue as an obvious factor in the loss.
“Mesa kept up a pretty good strong pace,” the SWC coach said. “We were there in the middle but faded at the end. They started getting some six-on-five opportunities and pulled away.
“I’m not going to make excuses, it’s just the grind of the season. We play in tournaments; we play league games. We finished the first round 2-2 with wins over Grossmont and Miramar and a one-point loss to Palomar and now an eight-goal loss to Mesa. We still have half our schedule ahead of us. We’re still competing for a good playoff seed.
“It’s all about building toward the PCAC finals. We’ve seen all of our opponents in the first round and now know who their top shooters are and what type of offenses they have.”
Southwestern gets a second crack at defeating Grossmont when the Jags host the Griffins Oct. 7 at 3:30 p.m.
SWC continues second-round PCAC regular season play with an Oct. 14 game at Palomar and host Miramar Oct. 21. The Jags conclude second-round play with a key rematch at San Diego Mesa on Oct. 28.
The Jaguars will also compete in the Santa Monica mini-tournament on Oct. 16.
Besides the wins over Grossmont and Miramar, Southwestern has posted non-conference victories against Chaffey (17-11 on Sept.18) and Santa Monica (12-11 in overtime on Sept. 19). The team’s two non-conference losses have been to Saddleback (16-15 on Sept. 18) and Citrus (19-6 on Sept. 19).
Mesa (6-3 overall) defeated Grossmont, 19-10, on Sept. 2 and dropped an 8-6 decision to Palomar on Sept. 9. Mesa hosts Palomar in a key second-round encounter Oct. 7.
The PCAC championship tournament is scheduled Nov. 6-7 at Miramar College.
Team leaders in Wednesday’s game included freshman Bryan Murillo (Bonita Vista) and sophomores Carlos Lizarraga (Chula Vista/Hilltop) and David Carroll (Coronado).
Murillo led the Jags with five goals, while Lizarraga scored three goals and Carroll scored twice. Jesus Santoyo (Montgomery) and Sal Gomez (Eastlake) each scored single goals for the hosts.
Carroll entered the game as the Jag’s season scoring leader.
Goalie Josue Macias (Hilltop) was credited with six saves.
Three players — sophomore Cheyne Merill (Coronado) and freshmen Marco Roy (Montreal, Canada) and Devin O’Donnell (Montreal, Canada) — led Mesa with four goals while Bryan Bare (El Dorado Hills) and Ryan Boyd (Beaconsfield, Canada) each scored three goals in the win. Goalie Cameron Woldt, who won a CIF Division II championship during his playing days at Serra High School, was credited with 10 saves and two steals.
The Olympians host the South of the Border tournament this weekend, Sept. 25-26. Participants include Mesa, El Camino, Fullerton, Citrus, Chaffey, SDSU, Santa Monica and L.A. Trade Tech.
In another PCAC game on Wednesday, Grossmont shaded Miramar 15-10.
Wet shots
Southwestern finished 3-1 at the South of the Border tournament hosted by Mesa College Seot. 25-26. The Jaguars defeated Fullerton (13-12) and Chaffey (17-9) on the first day of the event and split with SDSU (17-6 loss) and L.A. Trade Tech (16-8 win) on the final day of competition.
David Carroll leads SWC in scoring with 36 goals, 23 assists and 32 steals in 12 games, followed by teammate Bryan NMurillo with 29 goals, 19 assists and 16 steals. Carlos Lizarraga ranks third in team scoring with 27 goals, 21 assists and 23 steals, followed by Sal Gomez with 22 goals, four assists and 18 steals and Jesus Santoyo with 22 goals, three assists and six steals.
Goalie Josue Macias has made 136 blocks to go with 12 assists and seven steals.
