The San Diego Section boys water polo power rankings are out. Like those for football, they are a work in progress.
Mar Vista is first in the Division I power rankings with a sterling 14-0 record. The rest of the Metro Conference’s teams appear to still be finding their niche.
Hilltop started the season second in the Division II power rankings but a 2-2 finish in last week’s East County Invitational sank the Lancers to eighth place entering this week. Bonita Vista (5-7) tops conference teams in the Division III power rankings at No.9.
But there’s not a lot that separates the teams at this point of the season.
Take Wednesday’s Mesa League contest between Hilltop and 16th-ranked Eastlake at the Parkway pool for example.
The Titans splashed out to a quick 6-3 lead and held four one-goal leads thereafter before the Lancers finally capped an exciting 19-18 victory.
Hilltop coach John Salts admitted it was a crucial matchup despite the apparent disparity in the teams’ position in the Division II power rankings.
“You’ve got to beat teams in your own division,” Salts said. “We knew this would be a crazy game because (Eastlake head coach) Stuart Sokil and (EHS assistant coach) Carlos Uribe and (game official) Matt Chism were all Hilltop alumni on deck. We knew they would be pumped to beat us. Right now, our worst enemy is ourselves. We are coming together slowly and gaining confidence. As that happens, we’re having solid games more often.”
Hilltop (8-3) rallied from its early deficit on the scoreboard to eventually build an 18-12 lead. But it didn’t prove that safe as Eastlake reeled off five unanswered goals to narrow the score to 18-17 with 2:04 to play.
The Titans (5-10) had plenty of time left to complete their comeback but a timely goal by Raul Rico with 1:02 left in regulation gave the Lancers the insurance goal they desperately needed. Zane Derrod scored his seventh goal of the game with 24 seconds to play to make it a one-goal game again.
But Hilltop was able to successfully run out the clock.
Lancer goalie Tim Roa also chipped in with a point-blank save to deny the Titans another goal in the waning seconds. Roa backstopped Hilltop’s win with 13 saves.
Rico led all players in the pool with eight goals while Lancer teammate Aidan Garces matched Derrod with seven goals.
Mesa League Standings
(Through Oct. 13)
Mar Vista 4-0, 14-0
Hilltop 3-1, 8-3
Eastlake 3-1, 5-10
Mater Dei Catholic 1-2, 3-10
Otay Ranch 0-3, 2-6
Olympian 0-4, 1-13
South Bay League Standings
(Through Oct. 13)
Castle Park 5-0, 14-1
Bonita Vista 4-1, 5-8
Southwest 2-2, 2-3
Montgomery 2-2, 2-8
Chula Vista 0-3, 0-3
San Ysidro 0-4, 0-6
Horse power
Otay Ranch will compete along with five other Metro Conference schools in Saturday’s Spartan Invitational at the Parkway pool in downtown Chula Vista. Game action is scheduled from 11:10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and four medal games wrapping up the day.
Joining the Mustangs in the local field are Hilltop, Castle Park, Southwest, Bonita Vista and San Ysidro. Escondido and Canyon Hills round out the eight-team field.
Otay Ranch is looking to push forward from a 0-3 Mesa League start that included losses to Eastlake (16-9 on Oct. 1), Hilltop (27-17 on Oct. 6) and Mar Vista (20-4 on Monday), likely the three toughest teams in the league. The Mustangs (2-6 overall) will be looking to expand their horizons in the upcoming tournament.
“We’re glad we’re back,” Otay Ranch coach Carlos Stinson said. “I think our guys are fully taking advantage of playing water polo.”
The Mustangs’ two victories, both in non-league play, have come against Monte Vista (20-10 on Sept. 14) and Mira Mesa (23-17 on Sept. 24).
Otay Ranch meets Mar Vista in league play on Friday, then engages Eastlake again on Oct. 19 and Hilltop in a return match on Oct. 20. The Mustangs are scheduled to play Olympian (0-4 in league, 1-13 overall) Oct. 21 and Oct. 29.
Otay Ranch has shown it can put the ball in the net with 17 goals against Hilltop. Rodney Jiao paced the Mustangs in the game with eight goals while Trystan Marshall and Santiago Reyes both had four goals.
Hilltop moved up a notch to No. 7 in the Division II power rankings following Wednesday’s Mesa League win over Eastlake while Bonita Vista (4-1 in South Bay League play) is eighth in the Division III power rankings, Southwest (2-2 in South Bay League play) is 10th in the Division III power rankings and Castle Park (5-0 in South Bay League play) is 11th in the Division III power rankings.
Castle Park will be looking to move up in the power rankings with possible engagements against Bonita Vista and Southwest in this weekend’s tournament.
Escondido (1-6) is 14th in the Division III power rankings while Canyon Hills (9-5) is 17th.
Castle Park’s lone loss thus far is to Granite Hills, the top-ranked team in Division II, in a non-league game on Oct. 4 by a score of 17-5. The Eagles are perched atop the division power rankings with a 16-2 record (5-0 in league).
Spartan Invitational
Oct. 16 at Parkway pool, Chula Vista
Game schedule
Escondido vs. Castle Park, 11:10 a.m.
Hilltop vs. Southwest, 11:55 a.m.
Canyon Hills vs. Bonita Vista, 12:40 p.m.
Otay Ranch vs. San Ysidro, 1:25 p.m.
Escondido-Castle Park winner vs. Canyon Hills-Bonita Vista winner, 2:20 p.m.
Escondido-Castle Park loser vs. Canyon Hills-Bonita Vista loser, 3:10 p.m.
Hilltop-Southwest winner vs. Otay Ranch-San Ysidro winner, 4 p.m.
Hilltop-Southwest loser vs. Otay Ranch-San Ysidro loser, 4:50 p.m.
Championship game, 5:40 p.m.
Third place game, 6:30 p.m.
Fifth place game, 7:20 p.m.
Seventh place game, 8 p.m.
