This year’s San Diego Section boys water polo playoffs conclude Saturday, Nov. 11, at La Jolla High School with five games: Open Division final, Open Division state play-in game and Division I, Division II and Division III championship games.
Semifinals took place on Monday (Division III), Tuesday (Open Division), Wednesday (Division I) and Thursday (Division II).
Open Division finalists include top-seeded Cathedral Catholic (19-10) and second-seeded Bishop’s (16-14) while top-seeded La Jolla Country Day (25-6) will battle third-seeded High Tech High San Diego (17-9) for the Division III title.
Metro-Mesa League champion Eastlake (21-8) is bidding for a berth in the Division II championship game by engaging top-seeded Patrick Henry (20-5) in Thursday’s semi.
Eastlake received the No. 5 seed and slipped past 12th-seeded Del Norte, 10-8, in a first-round game played Nov. 2 at Southwestern College. The Titans then won another close game by edging fourth-seeded Oceanside (20-9) by a score of 12-10 in double overtime in the quarterfinals last Saturday at LJHS.
Patrick Henry eliminated eighth-seeded Granite Hills (14-18) in Saturday’s quarterfinals to get a crack at Eastlake, which finished 10-0 in league play.
Seven players scored for Eastlake in its opening round win, led by junior Ian Cortes with five points (two goals, three assists). Senior Joel Kipp (two goals, one assist) and sophomore Juan Castillo (two goals, one assist) each contributed three points.
Freshman Robert Buell, sophomore Alexander Gascon and junior Hugh Juden each chipped in with one goal and one assist. Sophomore Kaeden Hill scored one goal.
It was Juden’s tally with 31 seconds remaining that finally sealed the win for the Titans.
Junior goalie Lawson Soukup recorded five saves and four steals.
Gascon had seven points (four goals, three assists) in the OT win over the Pirates (20-9) while three players each chipped in with four points: Castillo (three goals, one assist), Hill (two goals, two assists) and Cortes (two goals, two assists).
Kipp had two points (one goal, one assist) while Juden contributed one assist. Soukup was active with 18 saves.
Eastlake enjoyed success under first-year boys coach Edgard Espinosa.
“I’ve been really impressed with how this team has jelled,” Espinosa said. “They came from different clubs but put their egos aside to come together as one team.”
Mar Vista (16-10) qualified as the No. 10 seed for the Division I playoffs, dropping a 19-6 decision to seventh-seeded Canyon Crest Academy (13-15) on Halloween Night at SWC.
The Division III playoffs were loaded with four Metro Conference teams: second-seeded Bonita Vista (14-13), fifth-seeded Castle Park (11-9), sixth-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (17-12) and ninth-seeded Olympian (14-16).
Mater Dei Catholic defeated 11th-seeded Valley Center, 13-6, in the opening round on Halloween Night but ended its season with a 7-5 loss to HTH San Diego in the quarterfinals on Nov. 3. Freshman Alexander Palmer notched seven points (two goals, five assists) in the win over Valley Center while senior Nikolas Hetter had five goals.
Olympian, braced by five goals from junior Nicholas Cabrera, upset eighth-seeded Rancho Buena Vista, 11-10, in overtime in the opening round but ended its season following a 20-4 loss to LJCD.
Castle Park fought back to end its season with a 13-11 loss to 12th-seeded Mira Mesa (7-16). The Trojans, missing three players (including one starter), rallied from an 8-3 deficit with a second-half push but couldn’t make up the difference while narrowing the score to 12-10 with 2:29 to play.
Ish Guzman paced CP with seven goals.
“We were missing some players, but the guys played very well,” Trojan coach Mark Esquivel said. “We fought hard to the end.”
Bonita Vista received a bye to the quarterfinals but stalled there after coming up short in a 12-7 setback to seventh-seeded Pacific Ridge (10-10).
