Rio Hondo men’s Water Polo (4-17) fell to South Coast Conference powerhouse Long Beach City College Vikings (13-4) at Long Beach’s pool 21 to 7. Leaving Rio Hondo with a 1-4 record in conference, Long Beach was ranked as high as two in Southern California last season and remains at no. 1 in the conference.    

Although the game was a tough loss for the visitors, two Roadrunners stood out throughout the game as no. 5 redshirt freshman Daniel Mendez recorded a season high five goals in the loss while no. 1 sophomore Hennessy Avila recorded ten blocks in goal.

Scoring back-to-back goals the Roadrunners took a quick 2-0 lead to start the game. The Vikings answered with five unanswered goals ending the quarter with a 5-2 lead over the Roadrunners.

The start of the second Rio Hondo pressed the attack finding the back of the net three times before Long Beach could find an answer. Tying the game at 5-5 with four minutes left in the second quarter but Rio’s defense could not contain the Viking’s attack as they scored 8 goals to end the quarter 13-5.

The Roadrunners would score two more goals in the fourth quarter but that would be as close as they’d get ultimately losing to a final score of 21-7.

Rio Hondo men’s Water Polo is back in action this weekend at the Cuesta Invitational Tournament in Morro Bay, Calif. as the Roadrunners will play three top-ranked teams in the state.