Santa Barbara City College is State Runner-Up

Livermore, CA - In just its third year as a program, the Santa Barbara City College Women's Water Polo program won its first ever Southern California Championship, and went on to finish as the State Runner-Up in the 2016 California Community College Athletic Association State Championships. It was a remarkable run for the Vaqueros, who fell in the State Championship contest to Riverside City College in overtime 9-8.

Riverside would get off to a hot start on the afternoon scoring the game's first three goals, two of which were courtesy of Mary Myers. Santa Barbara would break up the Riverside run with a 6-on-5 goal by Kendra Carr early in the second quarter, and would pull to within one after a goal by Addison Seale on their very next possession. Riverside proved to be relentless on the defensive end though, and snuffed out the Vaquero offense for the remainder of the first half and took a 4-2 lead into the break after RCC's Anay Ramirez scored with just 31 seconds left to make it 4-2.

Riverside would push their lead to four towards the end of the third, after another score by Myers, this one on a power play opportunity that made it 8-4. Santa Barbara would respond a few possessions later, and then go on to score three goals in the fourth quarter. The first came from Gabrielle Ritter on a 6-on-5 opportunity, while Charissa Dorn would pull Santa Barbara to within one. Seale would score the game tying goal with 2:30 left in the game, as the two teams played to a stalemate at the end of regulation.

In overtime, the two teams continued the defensive showing with neither team gaining advantage early. That was until, Meyers put the Tigers ahead with 10 seconds left in the first overtime, making the score 9-8. In the second three minutes of overtime, Riverside continued to apply strenuous amounts of defensive pressure on Santa Barbara. The Tigers would keep Santa Barbara off the scoreboard in that stretch, hanging on for the one point overtime win.

For Santa Barbara, Carr and Seale each scored twice, with Seale adding six steals. Goalie Mackenzie Richards and Ivana Bilaver would be named to the All-Tournament team for Santa Barbara.