Competitive games, loud crowds and dramatic finishes were the main staple of the Big 8 Conference tournament held earlier this month, where Diablo Valley College’s water polo program saw a successful weekend as the men’s team finished third and the women’s team took fourth. 

The DVC men’s team entered the championship seeded fourth while the women’s team came into the week seeded fifth. Both teams qualified for the NorCal regional championships with wins in their first matches.  

The men’s team played its opening matches Thursday, Nov. 7, while the women’s team began its tournament play the next day. On Saturday, Nov. 9, both men’s and women’s water polo competed in their championship and placement games to conclude the tournament.

Apart from hosting a club water polo Junior Olympic tournament last summer, this was DVC’s first big aquatics event since its pool’s remodeling in 2023, and organizers said the tournament ran smoothly overall.

“We wanted to make sure that it looked professional and it ran well and that it was something special for the athletes,” said Trisha Quan, head coach of women’s water polo and head aquatics coach. 

“We wanted to make it a fun, special, championship event,” she added. “It was fun to see that the bleachers were pretty full for most of the games.” 

Throughout the weekend competition, winning teams ran up excitedly to add their schools’ names onto the next leg of the tournament bracket.

Teams also brought their own fans to cheer for their schools, which led to an intense and packed crowd that kept the energy going all weekend.

Sierra College took the conference championship on the women’s side, while American River College captured the men’s title.  

DVC Women Take Fourth with two Overtime Thrillers

The DVC women’s team took on fourth seeded Modesto Junior college in one of the most exciting games of the weekend, which saw three overtime periods and steller play from both sides. 

The Vikings had previously lost to Modesto by four goals earlier this season and looked to take control early. 

Captain Sofia Goodson quickly went to work, contributing two early goals to help get the Vikings rolling and grab a 4-2 lead going into half.

The second half started with Olivia Sanchez rattling off two goals while Madelynn Lasquete added in her own goal to give the Vikings a 7-5 lead midway through the third quarter. 

Modesto stayed within arms reach, countering every DVC goal with one of their own. The quarter was capped off by Modesto’s Francesca Bruno scoring a goal with eight seconds left in the quarter to bring them back to within one goal of the Vikings.

In the fourth quarter, Sanchez scored again for the Vikings before Modesto was able to swing back into it with two goals to tie the game and send it into overtime.

The next three periods of overtime, and sudden death, had everyone in the stands on edge. Every time a shot went up, the crowd fell silent, holding its breath until one of the goalies batted the ball down to the sound of cheers from their teammates and a reignited roar from the crowd. 

Over the excruciating three extra periods of play, both teams fought hard with their defenses stepping up. Vikings attacker Chloe Pappas navigated her way up to 11 steals, two more than the entire Modesto team combined, while the Modesto goalie, Sofia Heutmaker, saved an incredible 21 shots. 

In the third period of extra time, DVC’s Goodson, who had played the entire game up to this point, was fouled, leading to a five-meter penalty shot.

The crowd went silent as Goodson lined up to take the shot and, with the season on the line, calmly drilled it to capture victory for the Vikings. 

With the crowd cheering, the team dove into the water to mob Goodson and celebrate the game-winning goal.

“I was just telling myself to stay calm and I tried to be confident within myself and win the game,” Goodson told The Inquirer. 

Goodson, the Vikings’ leading scorer this season, also had the confidence of her head coach that she could make the final shot. 

“She has been the rock of our team, she has been the leader,” said Quan. “I knew she was the right person to take it.”

“She did a great job and she put the ball in the back of the net.” 

The team’s other captain, Julieta Cazarez, concurred. 

“We came for something and we are going to push for it and we are not going to lose for it,” said Cazarez. “We’re going to put in all the hard work for what we worked for this whole season. 

The next morning, the women’s water polo faced off against Sierra College, the eventual conference champions, and lost 22-2, sending them to play for third place later in the afternoon against the sixth seeded American River College.

Again, in that matchup, the Vikings faced a lengthy duel that saw them go into yet another overtime. Both teams were exhausted but played with grit as the momentum shifted back and forth, with neither team able to pull away.

DVC went into the fourth quarter down by one, but responded with goals from Lauren Caguyong and Chloe Pappas to give the Vikings the lead. Then, in the closing minutes of the game, Mackenzie Hotaling of American River scored a goal to tie the game at 8-8. 

In the end, American River was able to put away two goals in the overtime period to secure a hard fought 10-8 win over the Vikings, who finished fourth in the tournament. 

“It definitely was tough going into another overtime, you know, it’s so hard especially because the days are back to back so you don’t get any breaks,” said Goodson. 

“At the end of the day we want to win and unfortunately that didn’t happen, but we still stick together.”

Men’s Water Polo Captures Third with Big Wins

Thomas Colpo shined in the DVC men’s first game of the Big 8 Conference tournament, as the Vikings took on the fifth seeded San Joaquin Delta College. Colpo scored eight goals with four of them coming in the third quarter against Delta. 

In the second quarter, Delta made a push tying the game at four goals a piece with two minutes left in the half. Colpo followed this up by scoring two straight goals, changing the momentum of the game.

Keegan D’Arcy snuck a goal by the Delta goalie with two seconds left in the half to cap off the three to zero run from the Vikings. From there, they never looked back, winning the game 14-10.

For Colpo, there were a few key components that helped him and his teammates come away with the victory.

“Keeping the momentum, staying positive, trusting your teammates, making smart passes and being confident in yourself and your shots,” said Colpo after his star performance.

“In my head I’m the best in the pool and no one can guard me. In my head I am working the hardest in the pool.” He added, “If you have that confidence, it’s hard to get stopped.” 

In game two, the Vikings took on the number one seeded American River College and lost 18-4. 

In their third and final game of the weekend, the Vikings competed for a third place finish against third seeded Modesto Junior College. The Vikings had lost both previous matchups this season against Modesto by an average of six goals, and looked to come out firing early. 

Both teams were very physical early on, jockeying for position and pushing to maintain momentum throughout the game. DVC captain Shawn Canada had to leave the game early with an eye injury. 

“There was definitely some aggression,” said DVC captain Jackson Barnacal. “Modesto is a physical team and it was shown in this game, too. Shawn got hit in the face. That was not ideal.”

Modesto focused on limiting touches for Colpo inside by throwing extra bodies at him. Although Colpo still managed to score five goals, his teammates took advantage of the pressure he brought, and responded with offense of their own.   

Ashton Culpepper finished with five goals while Barnacal put up four goals of his own. Both of them came alive in the third quarter, scoring two goals a piece to help the Vikings capture a five goal lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

DVC held strong during the last period of play and won the match 18-13, capturing third place in the tournament. 

“I like how well we came together,” said Barnacal. “We just really wanted to win this. We just played our game and it worked out.”  

Corey Dolley, head coach of men’s water polo, praised the team for their weekend performance.

“If we all played and worked together as a team, it didn’t matter who scored. We were working towards that common goal,” Dolley said. 

“Those guys are awesome.”