Wednesday’s South Bay League boys water polo opener between the Olympian Eagles and Otay Ranch Mustangs at the Southwestern College pool rated to be close on paper. The game lived up to its expectations with the defending league champion Mustangs claiming a dramatic 11-10 double overtime win on the last shot of the game.
“It was very close,” Otay Ranch coach Carlos Stinson said. “Hats off to Olympian. They played a very strong game. We’re going to continue to work on our fundamentals. We’re going to be working on water polo academics.”
Tied 10-10 through regulation, the game entered two three-minute overtime periods, with the possibility the game could extend to a third sudden-death period should the teams remain tied on the scoreboard.
Otay Ranch’s Julian Orozco supplied the only drama in the first half when he hit the post on a shot. The second overtime proved to be another standoff until the dying seconds.
Olympian called a timeout with 9.7 seconds left to set up what looked like its last shot of the game. Otay Ranch goalie Aurelius Jimenez made the save, however, and the Mustangs had the opportunity to call timeout with five seconds left in the second overtime.
Otay Ranch received the ball at mid tank. Ivan Lopez passed on the wing to Orozco with two seconds left and precious time ticking down. Orozco wound up for a shot through a congestion of arms and the ball just slipped inside the near post for the game-winner as time expired.
Orozco raised his arms in triumph and began splashing hard in the water to celebrate. His teammates quickly followed in like fashion.
“I felt so relieved that I made the shot,” said Orozco, a four-year player on the team. “I felt a lot of pressure because I didn’t think I could make the shot.”
The score bounced between the teams over the course of the game.
Pablo Arrizon scored the opening goal of the game to put the Mustangs up 1-0. But the Eagles took a 2-1 lead on back-to-back man-up goals by Chris Salang and Gavin Baldo.
The first quarter ended tied 2-2 following a goal by Otay Ranch’s Zach O’Hara.
Otay Ranch scored the only goals of the second quarter to move ahead 5-2 at halftime. Mustang starting goalie Miroslav Segedinev blocked a five-meter penalty shot by Salang and the Eagles later had a goal waved off that would have trimmed the score to 4-3.
Tristan Marshall had two goals in the quarter for Otay Ranch while Arrizon scored on a penalty shot.
The Eagles began a slow but determined comeback in the second half to send the game into overtime.
Otay Ranch’s Ivan Lopez takes a point blank shot on Olympian goalie Elijah Montero, who rejected the shot. Photos by Phillip Brents
Orozco pushed the Mustangs ahead 6-2 with the first goal of the third quarter but Olympian rattled off three consecutive goals to narrow the Otay Ranch lead to 6-5.
Salang, Garren Julian and Caeleb Collins each scored goals for the Eagles, the latter goal coming on a six-on-five.
The Mustangs scored three of the next four goals to lead 9-6 at the end of the third quarter and appeared to have a safe lead.
Olympian got back in the game by scoring the opening two goals of the fourth quarter. Hans Zimmer made the score 9-7 and Daniel Joiner scored a man-up goal with 3:04 left in regulation to narrow the score to one goal between the east side rivals.
Orozco scored on a rebound off the post to provide Otay Ranch with some breathing room at 10-8 with 2:37 to play.
But that proved to be too much time to defend. Collins scored on a rebound off Jimenez with 1:38 left to make the score 10-9 and followed with another goal with 34.9 seconds left to tie the game 10-10.
The Mustangs had a six-on-five with four seconds to play but could not get off a shot.
Orozco led Otay Ranch with five goals, including four in the second half, while Marshall collected three goals. Arrizon had two goals.
Collins keyed the Eagles with five goals, including four in the second half.
The win was only the second of the season for Otay Ranch (2-11 overall, 1-0 in league) while Olympian saw its record dip to 1-13 (0-1 in league).
Olympian got right back in the pool with a game on Friday, Oct. 4, against Castle Park at the Loma Verde pool while Otay Ranch is scheduled to host Southwest on Monday, Oct. 7, at 7:45 p.m. at Southwestern College.
Photo Gallery by Phillip Brents
Mater Dei Catholic 8, Hilltop 6
The Mesa League looks to be equally exciting this season after the Crusaders evened their league record at 1-1 by defeating Hilltop on Wednesday at the Parkway pool.
David Brown led the visitors with two goals, three assists and 10 steals while teammate Kyler Mamou recorded three goals, two assists and four steals.
Dave Dare contributed two goals and four steals while Patrick Turner scored one goal and made one assist. Armando Gonzalez had 10 goalie saves.
Mater Dei Catholic made 24 defensive steals in the game to stay afloat.
“We had some good offensive movement which transitioned to some solid goals,” MDCHS coach Jennie Charlesworth said. “Defensively, our goalie, Armando, directed traffic to make sure our defenders were making plays to help on defense.”
The Crusaders (8-6 overall) host Eastlake in a key match-up on Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. The Titans (0-1 in league, 3-9 overall) host San Ysidro (0-1 in league, 3-5 overall) on Friday, Oct. 4, at 7:45 p.m., with the aim of evening their league record with a win.
Bonita Vista 18, San Ysidro 6
The Barons (7-4 overall) evened their Mesa League record at 1-1 by sinking the Cougars at Southwestern College.
Bonita Vista exploded out to an 8-0 lead and led 14-4 entering the final quarter. Zion Murillo, Caleb Hutchins and Sami Metta each logged three goals for the Barons, while Isaiah Ceballos, Archie Orozco and Kristian Gutierrez each contributed two goals. Kyle Gregg, Ray Mondregon and Felix Ikeda each had one goal.
Angel Zepeda led San Ysidro with five goals.
Chase Taylor was credited with five goalie saves for Bonita Vista.
Girls volleyball
Lady Titans on top of Mesa League standings
Eastlake High School is off to a 24-5 start to the 2019 season, including an undefeated 7-0 Mesa League record after topping host Mar Vista 25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-15 on Wednesday (Oct. 2) and visiting Montgomery 25-13, 25-9, 25-14 on Friday (Oct. 4).
“We have the SoCal Invitational coming up so that’ll be our test to see where we are for the CIF playoffs,” EHS head coach Erwin Macalaguim said. “The team chemistry is coming along and have experience some success. Hopefully we can keep improving so we can finish the season strong.”
Otay Ranch is currently in second place in the Mesa League standings with a 5-1 league record, 14-10, overall, followed by Olympian (3-2 in league, 4-8 overall), Mater Dei Catholic (3-2, 15-4), Bonita Vista (2-5, 8-9), Montgomery (1-5, 11-10) and Mar Vista (0-6, 4-7).
Hilltop, Sweetwater and San Ysidro are tied for the South Bay League lead with 3-1 league records. Sweetwater is 14-9 overall, San Ysidro is 8-8 overall while Hilltop is 7-18 overall.
Southwest is 2-2 in league, 7-14 overall. Castle Park follows at 1-3 in league play, 4-20 overall. Chula Vista is 0-4 in league, 2-16 overall.
In games on Wednesday (Oct. 2), Southwest defeated visiting Hilltop in four games while Sweetwater swept host Chula Vista in three games. and San Ysidro swept host Castle Park in three games.
In a key game on Friday (Oct. 4), Sweetwater swept host San Ysidro 25-11, 25-17, 25-23 to pull into a three-way tie for first place in the league standings.
“At the beginning of the season we won the games we needed to win,” SuHi head coach Erik Hernandez said. “We ended up at 11-8 before starting league. In tournament play we lost in the semifinals of Gold Bracket at Santa Ana (Anaheim) tournament, lost in the quarterfinals of silver bracket at the Sweetwater tournament and lost to divisional opponent San Ysidro in sliver bracket of the Montgomery tournament. Any one can win a league match. We are making strides and hitting our peak at the right time. We look forward to the challenge.”
Eleven South County teams took part in the Sweetwater tournament Aug. 30-31.
Gold Bracket
•Otay Ranch lost in the first round of the gold bracket playoffs
•Chula Vista Learning Community Charter lost in the first round of the gold bracket playoffs
•Mater Dei Catholic lost in the quarterfinals of the gold bracket playoffs
Silver Bracket
•Montgomery lost in the first round of the silver bracket playoffs
•Hilltop lost in the first round of the silver bracket playoffs
•Southwest lost in the first round of the silver bracket playoffs
•High Tech High Chula Vista lost in the first round of the silver bracket playoffs
•Sweetwater lost in the quarterfinals of the silver bracket playoffs
•Bonita Vista lost in the semifinals of the silver bracket playoffs
Bronze Bracket
•Castle Park lost in the first round of the bronze bracket playoffs
•Chula Vista competed in the Copper Division
Grossmont College sweeps water polo doubleheader to open PCAC play
Grossmont College’s men’s and women’s water polo teams swept a doubleheader from Southwestern College Sept. 25 at the Salvation Army Kroc Center pool to open Pacific Coast Athletic Conference play on a winning note.
The Grossmont College men’s team, defending PCAC champions, defeated the Jaguars, 16-4, while the Griffins’ women’s water polo team, the third-place finisher at last year’s conference finals, used a 6-0 start to top the Lady Jaguars 18-9.
The Grossmont College women improved to 6-1 on the season by claiming the team’s six consecutive win following a 16-4 loss to Fullerton College at the season opening Saddleback College tournament.
Valhalla High School alumna Jasmine Miller led the Lady Griffins with eight goals and two assists in the win over Southwestern College while Granite Hills alumna Madelyn Ward collected two goals and two assists.
Three other players scored two goals for Grossmont College in the game: Cassandra Greene (Olympian), Maria Jimenez (Otay Ranch) and Madison Logsdon (Valhalla).
Logsdon and Leslie Garcia (Steele Canyon) paced the Lady Griffins with four steals.
Jasmyn Austin (Bonita Vista) led Southwestern with four goals, one assist and six steals in the loss.
Prior to the game against the Lady Jags, Grossmont participated in a mini-tournament Sept. 20 at Southwestern College, finishing 2-0 with victories against Chaffey (17-8) and Pasadena City (15-2).
Miller led the Lady Griffins with 10 goals in the win over Chaffey while Ward scored three goals. Ward had four goals against Pasadena City while Miller scored three times as Grossmont built a 10-1 halftime lead.
Grossmont College’s men’s team defeated Palomar College, 21-7, in last year’s PCAC championship game en route to a final 24-6 finish as brothers Brock and Cole Kammerer earned All-Southern California first team honors.
However, the Griffins will be fielding a much younger lineup in 2019 — one that includes a dozen freshmen recruits from seven high area schools.
Grossmont head coach Ty Lackey said the plan is to get the new players a year of experience in the pool and pair them with veteran players who are either red-shirting this season or taking the year off.
“We have a freshman team this season and a year in the pool will give them some great experience,” Lackey said in previewing this year’s squad.
Keith Patrick (West Hills) led Grossmont with 15 points (10 goals, five assist) through four games while Bonita Vista sharp shooter Emiliano Castro had collected 11 goals and 14 points. Valhalla’s Thomas O’Carroll followed with 10 points (five goals, five assists) to rank third on the team’s scoring chart.
Grossmont College’s water polo home games are played in La Mesa at the Kroc Center. The Griffins will host Palomar College in doubleheader action on Oct. 9, with the women’s game scheduled at 2 p.m. and the men’s game at 3:30 p.m.
The 2019 PCAC championships are scheduled Nov. 8-9 at Southwestern College.
PCAC Photo Pictorial
Wednesday, Oct. 2 at Southwestern College
Women: Palomar College 10, Southwestern College 7
Men: Palomar College 17, Southwestern College 14
Photos by Phillip Brents
