Photo by Brad Jacobson
Photo by Brad Jacobson

Men’s Water Polo Splits Day at Santa Monica Tournament

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - The El Camino College men's water polo team split the day on Friday at the Santa Monica Mini Tournament.  They were defeated by Cypress in the first game of the day before coming back to defeat hosts Santa Monica.  This is their fourth win over the Corsairs this season.  

El Camino College 9, Cypress College 18

The Warriors lost their first game of the day against the Cypress Chargers.

Cypress dominated the first half of the game taking a 12-2 lead after two periods of play.

In the final two frames of the game, the Warriors outscored Cypress 7-to-6 but the early lead was insurmountable for the Warriors.

Bronson Garel led the Warriors with 4 goals.  Tyler Reed led the team with 2 assists.  Caio Vieira made 3 steals for the game and Gary Bellingham made 7 saves in goal for the Warriors.

El Camino College 10, Santa Mónica 8

In another close affair between the two schools, the Warriors once again prevailed over Santa Monica for the fourth time this season.  All four games have been decided by three goals or less between the sides. 

El Camino held a narrow 5-3 lead after two periods of play.  They had a big third quarter where they out scored Santa Monica 4-1 but the hosts were able to do the reverse in the fourth period outscoring El Camino 4-1 but it wasn't enough for Santa Monica and El Camino held on for the win.

El Camino held a 9-3 lead after Bronson Garel scored with 2:41 left in the third period for their largest lead of the day.  The Corsairs outscored El Camino 5-1 in the final eleven minutes of the game.  Bronson Garel had the game winning goal and the big insurance goal in the final period to get the win for the Warriors.

Garel once again led the team with 4 goals, 3 assists, and 4 steals.  Gary Bellingham had a monster game in net, making 16 saves.

The Warriors return home on Wednesday for their final conference game of the season against Long Beach.  Swim-off is set for 4:30 p.m. between the sides.