South County’s high school boys water polo pennant races are just starting to heat up local pools it seems based on the results of the opening week of play.
The Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders and Eastlake Titans are both 2-0 in Mesa League play while the Chula Vista Spartans and Olympian Eagles are both 2-0 in South Bay League play.
The deadlock at the top may not last long. Mater Dei Catholic, fresh off winning last weekend’s East County Invitational, hosts Eastlake on Thursday, Oct. 13. Game time is 3 p.m.
Chula Vista and Olympian also tangle on Thursday in a 5 p.m. encounter at the Parkway pool.
Last week’s match-ups proved to be first-class battles.
In games on Oct. 6, Eastlake slipped past Hilltop, 9-8, in a game played at the Parkway pool while Olympian shaded San Ysidro by a score of 10-6 immediately following the Titans-Lancers game at the same site.
Eastlake recorded a runner-up finish in last year’s San Diego Section Division II championship game. The Titans graduated a whopping 10 players off that team but appear to have enough talent left to make another charge at the league title.
The Titans won last year’s Mesa League championship with a 10-0 record, followed by Hilltop in the league standings at 6-4, Otay Ranch and Mater Dei Catholic at 5-5, Bonita Vista at 4-6 and Mar Vista at 0-10.
New horizons
Eastlake’s team has a different dynamic this season and it’s not just because of a massive wave of graduation. With the closure of the Southwestern College pool, the Titans are now using the Las Palmas pool in National City for practices and games – doubling the distance from school.
“It’s a new environment for us,” EHS head coach Austin Legg admitted. “The pool is bigger. It has floating goals.”
The team also is still in the learning phase, the coach said.
“We have a young group,” Legg explained. “All we can do is make sure each game is a learning experience whether we win or lose it.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to win league. So far, we’re off to a good start.”
That new dynamic hasn’t hindered the Titans from starting out 2-0 in league play following a disappointing 2-12 start to the season in non-league play. Legg’s crew defeated Otay Ranch, 12-5, on Oct. 4 to start defense of its league title.
Eastlake snapped off a man-advantage goal to grad a quick 1-0 lead in the game against Hilltop and went on to post an early 5-1 lead on two more power play goals.
The Titans scored the opening two goals of the second quarter to lead 7-2. It was at that time that the Lancers staged a dramatic comeback to narrow the score of 8-7 at halftime.
Hilltop quickly tied the game, 8-8, after resumption of play in the third quarter but Eastlake regained the lead on another man-advantage goal.
The slim 9-8 edge held up as neither team – despite numerous opportunities – failed to score in the fourth quarter.
Eastlake goalie James Derrod made a reaching two-handed block on a point-blank shot with one second left in the game to preserve the win for the Titans.
The Titans (4-12 overall) have played a challenging non-league schedule. Eastlake finished 0-5 at the recent America’s Finest City Invitational, dropping contests to South Pasadena (10-4), Mira Costa (16-2), Half Moon Bay (9-4), Ocean View (7-6) and Elsinore (12-10).
The Titans also have three non-league losses by one goal: Steele Canyon (8-7 and 11-10) and El Camino (9-8). Reverse those scores and Eastlake climbs higher in the playoff seeding.
“It was tough,” Legg said of the gritty finish against longtime league rival Hilltop. “We didn’t stick to our game plan. We were not organized with our attack or defense. We have a lot of work to put in before our next game.
“We don’t have a huge team in the water, so we have to put together a solid game and execute.”
Derrod made 11 saves for Eastlake. Jason Wilder led the Titans with three goals while Cayden Pangelinan contributed two goals.
Hilltop goalie Danny Godinez was credited with 17 saves. Mark Estrada led the Lancers (3-5 overall) with three goals.
Despite the setback that dropped his team to 0-2 in league play, Hilltop head coach Ernie Medina still feels it’s what he terms “anybody’s league.”
“Teams have improved down here; there’s a lot of parity in the South Bay now,” Medina said.
“I commend Eastlake for putting together a win. I have a lot of new players and we’re doing our best to keep up with the stronger teams.”
Soaring Eagles
After defeating Southwest by a score of 21-6 in its league opener, Olympian faced the team it tied for last year’s league championship in its next game.
Both teams came prepared for last Thursday’s encounter, with the Eagles soaring to an early 2-0 advantage before the Cougars returned the challenge to trail 5-3 at halftime.
Olympian (7-1 overall) took control of the game in the third quarter by adding three goals to lead 8-4. San Ysidro mounted a late rally but Eagles goalie Adreyan Hernandez finished with 21 saves to keep the Cougars at bay.
Noah Collins and Brandon Sanchez paced Olympian with three goals each while D.J. O’Brien scored two goals. Alan Contreras and Austin Greenwell each scored one goal.
Jose Guzman led San Ysidro (4-11 overall) with six goals. His strong arm kept the Cougars in the game. He has 62 goals on the season, with a high of 13 goals in one game.
Cesar Perez made seven saves in the Cougar cage.
Olympian head coach Rachael Medina said it was a “privilege” for her team to start 2-0 in league play.
“As a team, the boys showed a lot of school spirit, communication and confidence,” she said.
“We came in strong, never game up our effort until the end,” San Ysidro assistant coach Dan Schilling explained.
The squads rematch Oct. 25, also at the Parkway pool.
East County Invitational
Friday, Oct. 7
Pool play
Mater Dei Catholic 11, Classical Academy 4
Monte Vista 16, Mira Mesa 10
Mar Vista 16, El Capitan 9
Serra 17, Southwest 2
Mater Dei Catholic 18, Mira Mesa 8
Classical Academy 16, Monte Vista 4
Hilltop 7, San Dieguito Academy 6
Escondido 18, Mt. Miguel 4
West Hills 19, High Tech High 7
Bonita Vista 11, San Ysidro 10
San Deiguito Academy 22, Mt. Miguel 6
Hilltop 12, Escondido 5
Saturday, Oct. 8
Championship playoffs
Championship game: Mater Dei Catholic 13, West Hills 10
Third-place game: Hilltop 11, Serra 7
Semifinals: Mater Dei Catholic 10, Hilltop 8; West Hills 12, Serra 6
Mesa League
Thursday, Oct. 6
Eastlake 9, Hilltop 8
Mater Dei Catholic 12, Mar Vista 10
Records: Eastlake 2-0, Mater Dei Catholic 2-0, Mar Vista 1-1, Bonita Vista 0-1, Hilltop 0-2
South Bay League
Thursday, Oct. 6
Olympian 10, San Ysidro 6
Chula Vista 13, Southwest 12
Records: Chula Vista 2-0, Olympian 2-0, Castle Park 0-1, San Ysidro 0-1, Southwest 0-2
Non-League
Thursday, Oct. 6
Castle Park 13, Montgomery 5
