Women’s Water Polo: Long Beach closes out SCC schedule with narrow 10-8 win over Cerritos

The No. 2 state-ranked Long Beach City College women's water polo team pulled out a 10-8 South Coast Conference win over visiting rival Cerritos College on Wednesday.

The Vikings' win over Cerritos, along with a win by Chaffey College over Pasadena City College on Wednesday, created a three-way tie for first place between LBCC, Cerritos, and Chaffey as all three closed the SCC schedule with 6-1 conference records.

Because of goal differential tie-breaker rules, Chaffey will receive the top seed for next week's South Coast Conference Championship tournament. Long Beach will be seeded second, followed by Cerritos.

Back at LBCC on Wednesday, the Vikings came through with a tough fought win when they know they had to.

Long Beach set the tone early, posting five goals in the first quarter to lead 5-3. But Cerritos rallied to narrow the gap in the second.

LBCC freshman Allison Zell scored at the 5:01 mark to put the Vikings up 7-4. Cerritos then got goals from Jessie Ku (4:39) and Diana Medina (00:31) to get within one of Long Beach as the Vikings were ahead 7-6 at halftime.

LBCC freshman Lauren Sweet and Cerritos' Graciela Quintana both scored third-quarter goals to set the stage for a crucial fourth.

Sophomore Sarah Agopian's goal at the 4:02 mark gave LBCC some breathing room at 9-7 and Zell gave the Vikings a three-goal advantage with her score at 2:53. But Cerritos' Amber Smith got the Falcons right back in it with her goal with 1:39 to go.

Down the stretch, LBCC freshman goalie Lindsay Smith made a pair big saves and sophomore Hollie Mickelson added an insurance goal with 1:39 left to help propel Long Beach to the win.

Zell led the Vikings with three goals. Agopian, Sweet, and sophomore Melissa Mansana all scored two goals each. With the win, Long Beach improved to 21-4 overall (6-1 SCC).

Cerritos, ranked No. 5 in the state, dropped to 19-6 overall (6-1 SCC). Quintana led the Falcons with three goals and Medina added two.

The Long Beach women return to action on Friday (Oct. 29) at 12:30 pm when they will face American River College in a non-conference game at Cerritos.