Lancers looking good as 2015 boys water polo season faces off

With nine Metro Conference teams vying for San Diego Section Division III playoff berths this season, all regular season matchups between teams, whether in league or non-league, will be crucial for seeding.

The Hilltop Lancers have gotten out to a strong 5-0 start with victories against five division opponents in their opening five games.

Hilltop defeated defending South Bay League runner-up Olympian, 17-2, on Sept. 3 to officially face off regular season play and followed that a day later with a 16-4 victory against High Tech High San Diego in a pair of games played at the Parkway pool.

The Lancers remained perfect on the season by defeating Mission Bay, 16-7, in another non-league game Tuesday at the Parkway pool and tacked on a 10-5 win against San Dieguito Academy on Thursday at the same playing site.

Hilltop closed out the week with a 16-6 non-league victory against the defending South Bay League co-champion San Ysidro Cougars on Friday, again at the Parkway pool.

Otay Ranch entered the season at the No. 1 spot in the division power rankings. Other Metro teams in the division include Bonita Vista, Castle Park, Chula Vista, Mater Dei Catholic, San Ysidro and Southwest.

Otay Ranch advanced to last year’s division semifinals after defeating Bonita Vista in an overtime thriller in the quarterfinals.

“There is going to be strong representation from the South Bay in Division III,” Hilltop coach Ernie Medina said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how it all turns out.”

The Lancers’ top gunners so far include Emilio Maldonado, Anthony Torroll and Andy Uribe. Maldonado scored eight goals in the win over Olympian and added five goals the next day against High Tech. Torroll had four goals in both games while Uribe scored four goals in Hilltop’s season opener and tacked on a pair of goals against High Tech.

Torroll had seven goals and two steals in Tuesday’s win while Maldonado contributed five goals and two steals.
Josh Fischer had a goal and three steals in the team’s opening two games while Skylar Garces and Austin Kober each scored single goals.

Ryan Sears had four goals and two steals in Tuesday’s game.

Goalie Danny Godinez had 13 saves in the win over Olympian and made 17 saves against High Tech.

The win over San Dieguito Academy had to be the biggest of the season in terms of confidence building. The Lancers recovered from an early 1-0 deficit to take a 2-1 lead, then rallied from a 2-2 deadlock to reel off eight of the games final 11 goals.

Entering the third quarter, Medina was concerned about his team just retaining its two-goal lead through the end of the quarter.

Maldonado led Hilltop with four goals in the game while Torroll scored twice, with single goals going to Sears, Emilio Cruz, Uribe and Caleb Macias. Godinez had 11 saves to buttress the Lancers defensive effort.

Collin Stewart paced the Mustangs with four goals.

“I think this secures a spot for us in the CIF playoffs if we can continue to play as we have,” Medina said.

A turning point in the game occurred just before halftime when Maldonado stole the ball from the High Tech goalie in the corner and quickly turned to deposit a shot into the open cage. The goal gave the Lancers a 4-2 lead at the halftime break.

Hilltop added the first three goals of the third quarter to up its lead to 7-2. Maldonado came back to score the opening goal of the fourth quarter to put his team in front 8-3.

“He’s one of our college prospects,” Medina said in regard to Medina. “He can create positive momentum. He’s very intelligent and focused. He plays every game as if he’s being watched by a college scout.”

The Lancers ran their record to 5-0 after defeating San Ysidro by 10 goals.

Sears paced Hilltop with six goals against San Ysidro while Maldonado scored five goals and Godinez contributed 15 saves.

Brian Coronado led the Cougars with three goals.

Wet shots
•Otay Ranch defeated El Cajon Valley, 13-2, in Tuesday’s season opener.

•Olympian’s goals were credited to Chandler Richard and Austin Greenwell in the season opening loss to Hilltop while Eagles goalie Anthony Segarra was credited with 28 saves.

•High Tech San Diego rebounded from the loss to Hilltop by defeating Chula Vista, 18-8, in a game played Tuesday at the Parkway pool.

•Eastlake opened the 2015 season with a 13-9 setback at Grossmont on Sept. 2.