Coast men cruise to win

The Orange Coast College men’s cross country team placed first among

20 teams with 80 points Saturday in the Triton Classic at UC San

Diego.

Coast’s Jose Casillas led the Pirates, placing third overall with

a time of 26:05. Humberto Rojas placed ninth overall with a time of

26:33 in the eight-kilometer race.

Orange Coast had a total time of 2:14:22 and an average time of

26:52, 13 seconds faster than runner-up Concordia’s average.

The top finishers for Coast were Casillas, Rojas, Kellen Acosta

(18th overall), Jason Valenzuela (22nd overall) and Matt Staggs (47th

overall).

The women’s team for Coast placed 10th in the meet with 255

points. First-place finisher Oklahoma State had 46.

The fastest OCC runner was Ludi Valdez, coming in 18th overall

with a time of 23:19.

Waves edge ‘Eaters

* WATER POLO: Host Pepperdine University scored five consecutive

goals in the middle two quarters and held on to defeat seventh-ranked

UC Irvine, 6-5, in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s water

polo opener for both teams Saturday.

The Anteaters (8-7), with two first-quarter goals by Rick Merlo

and one by Dan Noon with 4:41 left in the second quarter, built a 3-1

lead before the 10th-ranked Waves started their scoring surge. Grant

Miller scored two and Tom Jasper, Matt MacDonell and Matt Digges

notched one apiece to give Pepperdine a 6-3 lead after three

quarters.

Nate White and Merlo scored for UCI in the fourth period, but an

Anteater shot hit the post with under 20 seconds remaining. Goalie

Robbie Miller made eight saves for the Waves (7-6)

UCI’s Joe Wynne recorded two.

The Anteaters travel to face top-ranked Stanford at noon Saturday.

*--*

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation

Pepperdine 6, UC Irvine 5

Score by Quarters

UC Irvine 2 1 0 2 - 5

Pepperdine 1 3 2 0 - 6 UCI - R. Merlo 3, Noon 1, White 1. Saves - Wynne 2.

Pep - G. Miller 2, Acosta 1, Jasper 1, MacDonell 1,

Digges 1. Saves - R. Miller 8.

*--*

UCI women finish ninth

* CROSS COUNTRY: The UC Irvine women’s cross country team finished

ninth with 207 points in the Triton Classic at UC San Diego Saturday.

UCI freshman Elaine Gillespie finished 34th in 24:43 while Natalie

St. Andre placed 35th in 24:43. Teammate Melissa Ramos placed 43rd in

25:06 followed by Lauren Jerd (45th in 25:12) and Karis Wilson (60th

in 26:34).

UCI did not field a full men’s team at the meet.

UCI competes in the Cal Poly invitational at San Luis Obispo next

Saturday.

VU women second

* CROSS COUNTRY: Laura Bowman came in third overall for the

Vanguard women’s team Saturday in 19:33, followed by Irma Gonzalez

(20:11), Bridget Lonsdale (21:17) and freshman Allison Kunkel (25:07)

as the Lions finished second to Cal State San Marcos in the Vanguard

invitational at Fairview Park.

In the men’s race, VU’s Matt Meyer finished seventh overall in

26:56 to celebrate his 21st birthday, while teammates Alex Castro

(16th in 27:46), Travis Hartanov (28th in 28:25), John Nelson (29:54)

and Zachary Powell (31:00) completed Vanguard’s fifth-place scoring.

San Marcos won with 27 points.

Lions’ men sizzling

* SOCCER: The Vanguard men’s soccer team recorded its fourth

straight shutout and seventh consecutive win with a 6-0 Golden State

Athletic Conference victory Saturday night over visiting Hope

International.

Matt Hess scored two of the goals for VU (10-3, 4-0 in the GSAC)

while Tommaso Bianchi tallied six goalie saves.

Hooves blasts winner

* SOCCER: Vanguard University broke a scoreless tie in the 72nd

minute for a 1-0 win over visiting Hope International in a Golden

State Athletic Conference women’s soccer game Saturday night.

Sophomore Stacia Hoover booted the game-winning goal for the Lions

(6-4-2, 1-2-1 in the GSAC). Hope fell to 3-9, 0-4.

Matadors top ‘Eaters

* SOCCER: The UC Irvine men’s soccer team lost, 3-2, to visiting

Cal State Northridge in Big West Conference action Saturday night.

Kit Vitagliano and Sebastian Galmarini scored for UCI (4-7, 0-2 in

the Big West). Goalkeeper Cameron Rossi had five saves for the

‘Eaters.