The San Diego Section boys water polo playoffs are less than a week away and Metro Conference teams appear to be doing some late season shuffling in the standings in preparation for this weekend’s seeding meeting.
The Eastlake Titans secured the rights to this year’s Mesa League championship by defeating Mar Vista, 15-4, in action Wednesday evening at the Southwestern College pool. The league title was the seventh in eight seasons for the Titans and ended Mar Vista’s championship reign at one year.
Eastlake led 6-0 at the end of the first period and 10-0 at halftime in recording the Senior Night victory.
The Titans had moved up to the No. 5 position in the Division II power rankings that will be used for playoff seeding in the division.
“I think we’re ready,” explained EHS head coach Austin Legg, whose team improved to 9-0 in league play, 18-10 on the season as a whole. “We’ve had a lot of preparation to put things together. It looks like we’re healthy. We’re ready to go. I feel pretty confident about CIF.”
The Titans advanced to last year’s Division II semifinals.
Will Johnston led Eastlake in Wednesday’s home finale with five goals, including four in the opening quarter. Following him on the scoresheet were teammates Zack Randall (two goals), Kris Schauer (two goals), Steve Sterlitz (two goals), Mitch Lannom (one goal), Luke Sloan (one goal), Cayden Pangelinan (one goal) and Nate Niehaus (one goal).
Johnston, Randall, Lannom, Schauer, Niehaus and Sloan are among 10 seniors on this year’s Titan team (nine actively playing at the moment) who participated in Wednesday’s Senior Night ceremonies. The team’s other seniors include Kenzo Grule, goalie Aaron Aitchison, Peter Kolaric and Jesse Haus.
Eastlake entered the game against Mar Vista on the heels of Tuesday’s 14-7 non-league victory at Mt. Carmel and last week’s 2-3 showing in the San Diego open tournament. The Titans faced three out-of-town opponents in their tourney draw.
Eastlake opened the tournament with a 12-9 loss to Mission Viejo on Oct. 29, then absorbed a 13-2 loss to Bellevue, Wash., the same day. The Titans lost, 6-4, to Mercer Island (Wash.) on Oct. 30 before finishing the tournament with wins over Santana (11-7) and Mission Viejo (18-16) on Halloween.
Santana was the only San Diego Section tournament the Titans faced.
“I think half our schedule has been against out-of-town teams,” Legg said. “It’s great in that we play teams we’re not used to playing. It’s hard to game plan but it’s a unique experience to see how other teams prepare themselves. We have to be mentally prepared with our game plan and try to execute it as best we can.”
Jacques Henot led Mar Vista (0-9 in league, 5-19 overall) with two goals while Gabriel Caswell and Nichola Bochichio each scored once. Hector Ramirez finished the game with four saves on 19 shots.
San Marcos (21-7) tops the Division II power rankings, followed by Poway (second, 20-8), Del Norte (third, 22-7) and Valley Center (fourth, 17-9). Eastlake has not met any of those teams this season.
Fantastic finish
Bonita Vista recorded a 9-8 victory at Mater Dei Catholic in another Mesa League game on Wednesday. The teams are jockeying for position in the upper half of the Division III playoff seedings. The win was crucial for the Barons (18-10 overall), who moved up to second place in the power rankings ahead of Hilltop (third, 13-9), Otay Ranch (fourth, 13-12) and Mater Dei Catholic (fifth, 13-12).
Hilltop and Otay Ranch are tied for second place in the league standings with 5-4 league records while Bonita Vista and Mater Dei Catholic are tied for fourth place with 4-5 league records.
Bonita Vista hosts Hilltop in another key league and division contest Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the SWC pool.
Diego Gomez led Bonita Vista with four goals in the victory. The Barons finished 3-2 at the San Diego Open with wins over Mira Mesa, Olympian and San Dieguito Academy and losses to Point Loma and Mercer Island.
Bonita Vista lost by just one points, 13-12, to Point Loma the top-ranked team in the Division III power rankings.
“It was a really good time to win,” noted BVHS goalie Diego Sanchez in regard to Wednesday’s victory against the Crusaders. “The weather wasn’t really nice (but) we really had to pull it out. We really needed that.”
The Barons take a four-game winning streak into Friday’s game against Hilltop, which has dropped five of its last six games after enjoying the benefit of a five-game winning streak.
Hilltop dropped a 9-6 decision at Mater Dei Catholic on Oct. 28 and lost. 6-5, to Otay Ranch in a game Wednesday at the Loma Verde pool to both tighten up and scramble the league standings.
2015 Mesa League
Boys Water Polo Standings
(Through Nov. 4)
Eastlake Titans 9-0, 18-10
Hilltop 5-4, 13-9
Otay Ranch 5-4, 13-12
Bonita Vista 4-5, 18-10
Mater Dei Catholic 4-5, 13-12
Mar Vista 0-9, 5-19
Friday, Nov. 6
Eastlake at Mater Dei Catholic, 3 p.m.
Bonita Vista at Southwestern College, 5:30 p.m.
Mar Vista vs. Otay Ranch at Loma Verde pool, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 4
Eastlake 15, Mar Vista 4
Bonita Vista 9, Mater Dei Catholic 8
Otay Ranch 9, Hilltop 6
2015 South Bay League
Boys Water Polo Championship
Thursday, Nov. 5 at Parway pool
San Ysidro 14, Olympian 6
Note: San Ysidro and Olympian share league championship title
San Ysidro goals: Jose Guzman 3, Dany Mar 3, Alberto Guadana 3, Brian Coronado 3, Cictor Varasco 1, Jorge Herrera 1. Goalie saves: Enrique Escalante 18 (three steals)
Olympian goals: Austin Greenwell 2, D.J. O’Brien 1, Brandon Sanchez 1, Aaron Valencia 1. Goalie saves: Adreyan Hernandez 8
