Gauchos leave opponents in wake

The Saddleback men's water polo team swept through its first three matches of the Saddleback Invitational on Friday and Saturday at the Saddleback Aquatics Center.  The Gauchos now headed to the Orange Empire Conference Championships this coming week at Fullerton College.

Saddleback pulled above .500 for the year after a solid performance at their own tournament.  The Gauchos opened with a 17-10 win against Rio Hondo College on Friday morning.  Andrew Dimino led the Gauchos with five goals in the game while Brandon Davis and Grant Chauncey combined for 10 saves in goal.  Later in the afternoon, Saddleback battled for a 14-10 victory over Palomar College.  Matt Roche led the Gauchos with seven goals in the win against a Palomar team currently in second place in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference.  Saddleback opened the Saturday slate with a 12-7 win against Chaffey College.  Roche followed up his solid performance on Friday with five more goals against the Panthers, a program that currently sits in fourth place in the South Coast Conference.

Saddleback is now 15-13 overall heading into the OEC Championships this Friday and Saturday at Fullerton.  The Gauchos are in fourth place in the OEC standings heading into the event.