El Camino men’s water polo overwhelm Chaffey College in conference game

Following an aggressive Oct. 11 Men’s water polo home game against Chaffey College spectators began to count down the final seconds of the game, as the clock reached zero cheers erupted for the Warrior’s first South Coast Conference victory of the season.

The men’s water polo team extended their winning streak to three games after a dominant victory against the Chaffey Panthers on Wednesday.

The Warriors kept momentum after scoring quick goals and extended their lead throughout the game to defeat Chaffey 16-4

El Camino center Marc Bugarin helped set the tone after scoring the first goal 34 seconds into the game.

“We played good overall on offense and defense,” Bugarin said. “It was one of our best games so far in the season.”

Center Marc Bugarin winds up to attack the opposing team's goal on Oct 11 at El Camino College. (Ethan Balderas | The Union) — Center Marc Bugarin winds up to attack the opposing team’s goal on Oct. 11 at El Camino College. (Ethan Balderas | The Union)

El Camino’s offense was tough to slow down with nine different players scoring for the Warriors throughout the game. El Camino attempted 36 shots and assisted on 13 of their goals.

Warriors had five goals on the board before Chaffey wing player Parker Black scored the Panthers’ first goal seven minutes later, making the score 6-1.

The Warriors continued with their flow on offense by completing passes to each other and maneuvering around Chaffey’s defense in the second period to make the score 10-2.

During the period the crowd was riled up when El Camino attacker Heitor Trefilio caught the Chaffey defense off guard to go on one with Panthers goalkeeper Elijah Bell.

On this play, Trefilio launched the ball past Bell into the net to score his only goal of the game to go along with three assists he made to Bugarin in the first period.

As El Camino’s lead increased In the third period, some of the Warriors were calling out unsportsmanlike fouls Chaffey was committing underwater but referees were unable to see them and play continued.

Trefilio said Chaffey “played dirty” by doing those sorts of actions since they knew the referees would not notice and call a foul.

“It was important not to lose our heads,” Trefilio said. “We would get them back by outplaying them.”

Before the third period ended 15-2, El Camino head coach Noah Rubke was telling his team to be patient as they tried to score.

“[Chaffey] has a solid goalie, if we rushed our shots he would block them and protect the goal,” Rubke said.

Attacker Heitor Trefilio forces the Chaffey goalie to do a full cover of the goal. This was a solo break away by Heitor on Oct. 11th versus Chaffey College at El Camino College. (Ethan Balderas | The Union) — Attacker Heitor Trefilio forces the Chaffey goalie to do a full cover of the goal. This was a solo break away by Trefilio on Oct. 11 versus Chaffey College at El Camino College. (Ethan Balderas | The Union)

Some momentum was gained by Chaffey as they outscored El Camino in the fourth period and put the Warriors more on the defensive side of the play.

Chaffey had 11 shots and scored two goals while the Warriors were only able to attempt three shots and score a goal.

However, Chaffey’s offensive spark would not be enough and while the Panthers scored two points in the final quarter compared to the Warriors one, El Camino still came out victorious.

“We took care of business and got the win,” Rubke said.

Attacker Scott Fujiwara winding up for an attack on Chaffey's goal later succeeding and scoring a point for El Camino College on Oct 11. (Ethan Balderas | The Union) — Attacker Scott Fujiwara winding up for an attack on Chaffey’s goal later succeeding and scoring a point for El Camino College on Oct. 11. (Ethan Balderas | The Union)

Rubke said he was encouraged to see his players get involved on both offense and defense during the game but still found some things to improve on going into the next game.

“We need to work on communicating with each other so players are aware of where they are as a team,” he said.