Mesa League play in boys water polo faces off Tuesday, Sept. 29, when the Bonita Vista Barons host the Otay Ranch Mustangs in a key league and divisional match at 7:30 p.m. Southwestern College. League play continues Friday, Oct. 2, when Eastlake hosts Otay Ranch at 5:30 p.m. at Southwestern College.
Finally, the 2015 season is starting to become very interesting.
Four of the six teams in the Mesa League are vying for valuable seeding points for the upcoming San Diego Section Division III playoffs while Eastlake and Mar Vista, both in the battle for playoff berths in Division II and Division I, respectively, have something to settle after Mar Vista ended Eastlake’s six-year reign last season as league champions.
Eastlake Titans
The Titans advanced as far as last year’s Division II semifinals, losing to eventual division champion Fallbrook. This year, Eastlake is off to a 4-4 start with a key divisional loss to Rancho Bernardo (9-8 on Sept. 9). The Titans entered this week sitting No. 6 overall in the Division II power rankings behind Poway (6-1), San Marcos (10-10, Valley Center (8-4), Del Norte (10-3) and El Camino (6-6).
Once the Titans get more games — and wins — under their swimsuits, they should make a climb up the division standings.
Team chemistry appears to be a strong point this season with nine seniors on the roster.
“We’re starting to click together on offense, and our transitions are looking better,” EHS head coach Austin Legg explained. “Defensively, we still have some things to work on; we’re giving up too many goals in games. We still need a little more improvement. By the time we get into league, we should be at our best.”
Top playmakers through the early part of the season have been senior drivers Will Johnston, Nate Niehaus and Zack Randall.
Legg said senior goalie Aaron Aitchison is “having a really good season so far.”
The Titans are coming off a seventh place finish in last weekend’s sixth annual Concord Classic in Los Altos.
Niehaus and Johnston are vying for the team lead in both goals and points scored. Both players have 31 goals through eight games. Niehaus has nine assists for 40 points while Johnston has seven assists for 38 points. Randall has five goals, 20 assists and 12 steals. Niehaus has 15 steals to his credit while Johnson has five steals.
Otay Ranch
The Mustangs made history last season by becoming the first boys water polo team from the school to advance to the CIF semifinals. Otay Ranch’s season ended there but second-year head coach Matt Chism has higher expectations this season.
“We’d like to get a top three seed in Division III this year – last year we were seeded fourth,” the ORHS coach said.
In the early season power rankings, Point Loma is first, followed by Hilltop, Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch. With both Hilltop and Bonita Vista in the Mesa League, those positions could easily flip throughout the two rounds of league play.
Consistency, Chism noted, will be the key to the eventual success of this year’s squad, which returns nearly all starters off last year’s history-making team.
Junior goalie Matt Olimski has bulked up a bit and, according to Chism, “has a much better cage presence.”
The Mustangs’ top scoring threats include senior Eddie Rosenfeld, junior driver Cooper Mestre and senior two-meter set Angel Aguiar.
Rosenfeld possesses a deadly sweep shot and has a cannon for an arm on long distance shots.
Aguiar has made the switch from two-meter defense to offense and has become a staple at the latter position. Mestre, in turn, has made the switch to two-meter guard.
“We have some strong shooters,” Chism said.
Point Loma (7-3) has taken root as the No. 1 team in the division power rankings with key wins over Otay Ranch (9-4 on Sept. 10) and Hilltop (15-7 on Sept. 16).
Both Otay Ranch (6-5) and Hilltop (5-1) possess divisional victories against San Dieguito Academy and Mission Bay. The Mustangs defeated SDA by six goals (11-5 on Sept. 16); Hilltop defeated SDA by five goals (10-5 on Sept. 10); Otay Ranch defeated Mission Bay by two goals (10-8 on Sept. 17); the Lancers defeated Mission Bay by nine goals (16-7 on Sept. 8).
The Mustangs have also beaten El Cajon Valley (13-2 on Sept. 8) and Classical Academy (12-5 on Sept. 15).
Hilltop, which sits in the No. 2 power ranking behind the Pointers, also owns divisional wins over Olympian High (17-2 on Sept. 3), High Tech High San Diego (15-6 on Sept. 4) and San Yisdro (16-6 on Sept. 11).
Mater Dei Catholic, another member of the Mesa League, is vying for a Division III playoff berth as well.
Hilltop
The Lancers suffered their first loss on the season to Point Loma after reeling off five consecutive victories against divisional opponents. Hilltop and Point Loma met previously in August’s Draz Classic, ending in an 8-8 tie.
The Pointers managed to contain Emilio Maldonado, Hilltop’s explosive scorer, in the rematch. Point Loma exploded for a five-goal lead after the first quarter, forcing the Lancers to play catch-up the rest of the game. Hilltop closed to within three goals in the third quarter at 9-6 before the Pointers pulled away toward the end with the game’s final three goals.
Maldonado was held to three games in the loss.
“Before this game, we were No. 1 in the power rankings and they were No. 2, so now both teams flip-flop,” Hilltop coach Ernie Medina explained. “I think this puts Otay Ranch into the mix, and maybe even Mater Dei. Point Loma came out and played stronger than we did. They had a good day.”
Adam Watson and Brendan McMahon led the Pointers with four goals each against the Lancers.
Both Hilltop and Point Loma are making the drop to Division III this year. Medina believes the division champion will likely move back up to the Division II ranks next season.
Ryan Sears scored six goals and Maldonado had five goals in the Lancers’ previous win over San Ysidro.
