The high school girls water polo season seems set up for an exciting conclusion after seven Metro Conference teams gained entry into this year’s San Diego Section playoffs, including a pair of teams with top four seeds to place them among the favorites to beat in their respective divisions.
Three area teams are still in contention for division titles entering this weekend’s quarterfinal round.
Four Metro Conference teams qualified for the Division III playoffs. South Bay League champion San Ysidro received the No. 3 seed, Chula Vista received the No. 7 seed, Otay Ranch received the No. 8 seed and Hilltop received the No. 11 seed.
San Ysidro (12-0 in league, 19-5 overall) received a bye to Friday’s quarterfinals while the other three teams all opened postseason play with first-round games on Tuesday.
Otay Ranch (2-8 in Mesa League, 8-17 overall) advanced with an 8-7 win over ninth-seeded Serra (9-15) in a game played at Southwestern College while Chula Vista, the runner-up in the South Bay League standings, saw its season end with a 7-3 loss to 10th-seeded Oceanside at the same site.
Hilltop (1-9 in Mesa League, 8-16 overall) ended the 2019-20 season following an 11-4 setback to sixth-seeded Escondido (10-12).
Chula Vista finished 10-2 in the South Bay League standings, 13-8 overall, in an otherwise fine season.
Otay Ranch and Hilltop finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Mesa League standings.
Otay Ranch joins San Ysidro in the second round and will play top-seeded Monte Vista Friday at 4 p.m. at La Jolla High School’s Coggan Family Aquatic Complex. The Otay Ranch-Monte Vista winner will meet Friday’s quarterfinal winner between fourth-seeded Mission Hills (11-8) and fifth-seeded Valley Center (9-15) in Monday’s semifinals.
San Ysidro will play Escondido on Friday at 6:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to meet either second-seeded Santa Fe Christian (20-6) or Oceanside (10-14) on Monday.
The Division III championship game is scheduled Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. at LJHS.
Horse power
Tuesday’s playoff win was obviously a feather in the cap for Otay Ranch.
“Both teams were taking outside shots the whole game,” ORHS coach Carlos Stinson said. “We got up by a few goals at the end of the first period. The girls played great defense. We had a great third quarter and they only started to catch up at the end.”
Lilly Romero led the Lady Mustangs with four goals while four other players each scored one goal. Christina Olmos recorded nine goalie blocks to preserve the win.
Sophomore Sadie Villanueva recorded three steals in the first quarter to set the tone for the Otay Ranch defense.
The Lady Mustangs will next face a Monte Vista team that finished 18-6 in regular season play, 4-4 in Grossmont Valley League play.
Bitter end
The top three teams in the Mesa League standings all received berths in the Division II playoffs. Mar Vista (10-0 in league, 23-5 overall) received the No. 1 seed ahead of No. 2 seed Granite Hills (8-0 in Grossmont Valley League play, 22-5-1 overall).
Mar Vista received a bye to Saturday’s quarterfinals at LJHS while both Bonita Vista and Eastlake ended their seasons with losses in first-round play Wednesday at Southwestern College.
Bonita Vista, which finished third in the Mesa League standings behind Mar Vista and Eastlake, dropped a narrow 5-4 decision to ninth-seeded Patrick Henry while fifth-seeded Eastlake came out on the short end of a 10-2 upset loss to 12th-seeded Classical Academy.
The Lady Barons (16-12) fought an uphill battle all game long after surrendering the game’s opening goal on a defensive turnover. Patrick Henry (12-16) built a 4-1 halftime lead as the teams went into a strong defensive mode.
It appeared the Lady Pats might take that three-goal lead into the fourth quarter before BV’s Megan Slovatiski scored on a pair of well-placed lob shots in the dying seconds of the third quarter to make it a one-goal game at 4-3.
Slovatizki, who scored her team’s opening goal in the first quarter, scored with 26 seconds left in the third quarter to halve the deficit to 4-2. She tacked on another goal with one second left in the quarter to completely change the complexion of the game.
Slovatizki scored her fourth goal of the game with 1:23 elapsed in the final quarter to knot the teams in a 4-4 tie. She later hit the post on another lob shot before Patrick Henry returned the favor with a near-miss.
With the goalies from both teams playing well to deny scoring opportunities at either end of the pool, Patrick Henry’s Adri Hooker finally broke the stalemate with a goal with 2:24 left in regulation play.
Lady Baron goalie Nayeli Rodriguez intercepted a pass in front of the cage with a few seconds left on the clock. She was able to get the ball to midfield but the Bonita Vista player was unable to get a shot off on the Lady Pats’ cage with one second left, and time expired on the hosts’ season.
“I don’t like these close games,” BVHS coach Betty Alexander said. “We came back from a three-goal deficit to tie the game. I’m happy with that. It’s sad to see the season end for our seniors. They’re a very good group of girls. It’s disappointing they didn’t get farther in CIF because they deserved it.”
Rodriguez made nine saves while Unique Plata and Slovatizki each had three steals.
Eastlake, fielding a young but talented squad, never led in its playoff opener. But it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Head coach Edgard Espinosa pointed to 27 missed shots by his team as the difference in the game.
Classical Academy (15-11) led early by a 2-0 score before Lady Titan Alexia Harlow scored on a tip in front of the Lady Caimans cage as time expired in the first quarter.
But the visitors tacked on four more goals in the second quarter to lead 6-1 at halftime. The Eastlake deficit grew to 8-1 by the end of the third quarter.
Karyed Espinosa scored the lone goal for the Lady Titans in the second half.
Genevieve Larkin led Classical Academy with five goals while teammate Lilly Wolfe scored three goals.
Eastlake finished its season with a final 14-12 record, including an 8-2 mark in league play.
“For having no experience, the girls had a great season,” Edgard Espinosa said. “With had freshmen and sophomores with no varsity experience.”
Mar Vista will draw Patrick Henry in Saturday’s quarterfinals while fourth-seeded El Capitan (18-6) will meet upset-minded Classical in another second-round playoff contest at the LJHS pool.
The Mar Vista-Patrick Henry winner advances to next Thursday’s semifinals. The Division II championship game is scheduled Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. at LJHS.
To view playoff brackets, visit the website at www.cifsds.org
Metro Conference Standings
(Through Feb. 12)
South Bay League
League/Overall
San Ysidro 12-0, 18-4
Chula Vista 10-2, 13-8
Olympian 8-4, 11-16
Southwest 4-6, 4-7
Montgomery 3-9, 3-12
Castle Park 3-9, 7-16
Mesa League
League/Overall
Mar Vista 10-0, 23-5
Eastlake 8-2, 14-12
Bonita Vista 6-4, 15-10
Mater Dei Catholic 4-6, 11-13
Otay Ranch 2-8, 8-17
Hilltop 1-9, 8-16
