Report by LBCC’s Chris Ruiz, photos by John Fajardo

The Long Beach City College women’s water polo team brought home the second-place trophy on Saturday after falling 6-5 to Golden West College in the championship final of the 2009 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Water Polo State Championships at Golden West in Huntington Beach.

Long Beach let an early lead slip and couldn’t mount a late comeback.

The Vikings held a 2-1 advantage after first-quarter goals from freshman Sarah Agopian and sophomore Kimmy Morrison.

Golden West would tie the game up in midway in the second quarter, before sophomore Adrienne Taylor’s goal with 1:13 left in the second put LBCC back up 3-2.

But the Rustlers struck for a pair of consecutive goals and took their first lead of the game with 1:57 left in the third quarter.

Taylor scored the second of her three goals on the day at the 7:42 mark in the fourth to regain the lead for the Vikings for the final time. Golden West once again rallied for two straight goals to jump ahead 6-4 with 5:57 left in the game.

Taylor got Long Beach within one with a goal (6-5) with 27 seconds left, but Golden West was able to run out the clock to wrap up the state championship win.

The Vikings outshot Golden West by a 26-22 margin, but couldn’t get their shots from the outside to hit the back of the net.

Sophomore Chelsea Datt totaled five saves in the loss for Long Beach.

Following the contest, Morrison, Taylor, and Datt were named to the All-State Tournament team.

The Vikings close the season with a 27-8 overall record. Under coaches Chris Oeding and Dave Kasa, the LBCC women made their ninth straight trip to the state championships this season.