Comets rout Miramar 26-11, then down Mesa 18-16 to clinch 2nd place
SAN MARCOS (10-22-2018) / UPDATED 10-24-2018 – Coach Kody Moffatt cleared his bench on Monday at Wallace Memorial Pool as Palomar, put 13 players in the scoring column and routed visiting San Diego Miramar 26-11 to remain alone in second place in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference regular-season standings.
Palomar (6-2 in conference games, 10-10 overall), then sealed the deal, pinning an 18-16 loss on visiting San Diego Mesa, the only team remaining with a chance to tie the Comets for second place, to close out the regular season. The Olympians fell into third place with a 4-4 conference record.
The regular-season standings determine seedings for the PCAC Tournament, which will crown the official conference champion, slated for Nov. 2-3 at Southwestern College's new $52 million Wellness and Aquatics Complex.
Palomar 26, SD Miramar 11
Four players accounted for 12 of the Comets' 26 goals against the Jets:
Jacobo Mantilla, a freshman out of Rancho Bernardo High School (3 goals, 1 assist, 4 steals); Terrin Davis, a sophomore from El Camino High (3 goals, 1 assists, 2 steals); Truman Irion, a freshman from Escondido High 3 goals, 3 assists, 1 steal); and Kevin McCollum, a freshman out of Fallbrook High (3 goals, 1 steal, 1 block).
Palomar's other multiple-goal scorers in the rout were:
Chase Norfolk, a freshman from Fallbrook High (2 goals, 3 assists, 1 steal); Bryce Van Camp, a sophomore from Valley Center High (2 goals, 2 assists, 1 steal); Ben Nettles, a freshman from Vista High (2 goals, 2 assists, 1 steal); Rielly Gilum, a freshman from Oceanside High (2 goals, 3 steals); Nate Taylor, a freshman from Temecula Valley High (2 goals, 1 assists, 1 steal, 1 block).
And four other players also scored for the Comets:
Scotty Richards, a freshman from El Camino High (1 goal, 3 steals); Zane Bentley, a freshman from Murrieta Mesa High (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 steal); Jeremy Paiz, a freshman out of Valley Center High (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 steal); and Matt Corradetti, a freshman from Vista High), 1 goal.
Dalton DeSpain, a freshman from Mission Hills High, played the first two quarters in goal, notching seven saves. Michael Mendiola played the final two quarters and had five saves.
Palomar 18, SD Mesa 16
In Wednesday's game, McCollum (6 goals, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block) and Taylor (6 goals, 1 steal, 1 block) went off on the Olympians and led the Comets to the victory and the second seed in the upcoming conference tournaent.
Irion, Paiz, Van Camp, Richards and Davis scored the other Palomar goals.
Bentley led the Comets in assists with three. Davis and Mendiola each contributed two steals.
Medoiola went the full game in goal, totaling 16 saves.