The San Diego Mesa College men’s water polo team fell 15 - 13 to a tough Palomar College team on Wednesday at Mesa College. Palomar College, led by freshman Kevin McCollum and Nate Taylor, are the defending back to back PCAC Conference Champions (2016, 2017).
The Olympians jumped to a 3 point lead midway through the 3rd quarter, but were unable to hold the lead after giving up 3 unanswered goals.
“Our team has finally started to click on offense, but we have struggled with rushing our opportunities and being patient with the shot clock,” said head coach Nathan Resch. “We had moments of brilliance with team defense, but we have struggled with individual matchups for the full 30 seconds of possession.”
In the 4th quarter, the match began to go downhill for the Olympians. There were several possessions in which the team did not fully utilize the possession clock. There were also individual breakdowns which allowed Palomar College to comeback and defeat Mesa 15-13.
“We need to play 4 quarters of team defense. There were too many individual mistakes and we can’t have that when we play against a good team like Palomar,” explained Resch. “We also need to be patient on offense and find opportunities late in the game to score.”
Freshmen Roman Rosser (The Bishops School) and Eric Orozco (University City High School) have both been early contributors. Rosser currently has 4 goals, 3 steals, and 2 assists. Orozco has 4 goals, 3 steals, and 2 assists. Both players have been steady forces at both ends of the pool.
Next up for the Olympians will be the Cerritos Mini on Friday, September 28. The tournament will be held at Cerritos College in Norwalk, California.