Long Beach Takes Both SCC Water Polo Titles For 2nd Year In Row

Long Beach City College continues its stretch of excellence in the sport of water polo by winning the conference men's and women's titles for the second straight season Saturday at the South Coast Conference Championship Tournament held at Cerritos College.

The Vikings men picked up their 20th conference crown (12th in the last 14 years) by defeating Cerritos, 12-7, in the championship final. LBCC (18-7 overall) jumped out to a 7-2 lead after two quarters and never looked back. Karlo Krmek scored four goals and goalie Seth Seabock made 11 saves to highlight the win. It was the program's second straight SCC title.

Long Beach avenged a 7-6 loss to Cerritos in the final dual conference game on October 24. That loss was the first time in 76 games going back to 2004 that the Vikings had lost in the first round of duals (or prior to games played at the SCC Tournament). LBCC's string of SCC dual regular season titles however was extended to 15 seasons as it tied Cerritos and Mt. San Antonio for this year's first place standing going into the Nov. 1-3 tourney. 

Mt. SAC placed third behind a 16-15 overtime win in third place final over Chaffey. El Camino won the fifth place final over Rio Hondo, 10-9. 

Conference Finish (total SCC games, dual and tourney): 1. Long Beach 6-1, 2. Cerritos 5-2, 3. Mt. San Antonio 6-2, 4. Chaffey 3-5, 5. El Camino 1-6, 6. Rio Hondo 1-6

WOMEN 

Long Beach picked up its fourth consecutive SCC title and 12th in its history dating back to 2001 by coming back to defeat Mt. San Antonio, 11-8, in the championship final match. The Vikings (16-9 overall) rallied from down 8-6 early in the fourth quarter. LBCC took the lead for good with 4:07 left on Sydney Brightenburg's fifth goal. Alejandra Villa also scored five goals for the Vikings. The Mounties were led by Erin DeAnda with four goals.

LBCC downed Chaffey 17-7 in the semifinals while Mt. SAC edged Cerritos, 10-9, in the other semifinal. Cerritos then won the third place game over Chaffey, 10-6. El Camino officially placed fifth overall after Rio Hondo was unable to play in the fifth place final. 

Conference Finish (total SCC games, dual and tourney): 1. Long Beach 8-0, 2. Mt. San Antonio 8-2, 3. Cerritos 7-3, 4. Chaffey 4-4, 5. El Camino 4-4, 6. Rio Hondo 3-7, 7. East Los Angeles 1-8, 8. Pasadena City 0-7