The Mater Dei Catholic High School boys water polo team made history last season by capturing the school’s first Mesa League championship.
The Crusaders are off to an 8-3 start this season, including a 2-0 start in league play.
Mater Dei Catholic bolted out of the gate early, hit a midseason swoon and then recovered in time to fend off several hard-charging challengers to finally secure last year’s history-making league title.
The Crusaders finished 7-3 in league play — one game ahead of runner-up Eastlake (6-4 in league).
There’s every reason to believe this year’s league circuit will be equally as competitive.
Mater Dei Catholic faced off league play with a 10-8 win over visiting Mar Vista on Sept. 12. The Crusaders defeated host Bonita Vista, 21-8, last Friday.
Ben Brown, last year’s Mesa League Player of the Year, scored seven goals in last Friday’s game while senior teammate Fernando Margain scored six goals.
Brown set scoring records last season as a junior with 121 goals and 212 points as the Crusaders finished with a final 18-10 record.
Mater Dei Catholic, buttressed by five goals from sophomore B.J. Riley and 11 goalie saves from senior Dionesio Saucedo, another high profile returner, recorded a key 11-9 non-league victory against Point Loma on Sept. 21,
Point Loma received the No. 2 seed in last year’s Division II playoffs.
Riding the wave
Besides Brown, other top players on this year’s team include junior Juan Hernandez, junior Nick Salisbury, senior Fernando Margain, sophomore B.J. Riley, senior Dionisio Saucedo and freshman David Brown (younger brother of Ben Brown).
Hernandez earned second team all-league honors last season after recording 77 goals and 116 points (second on the team to the elder Brown).
Salisbury started on varsity last season and, according to head coach Guy Souza, “is making big contributions to the ball club this year.” Souza noted that Salisbury, a pitcher from the baseball team, has become a strong outside shooter who is averaging two goals eper game.
Margain and Riley are both first-year varsity starters.
Riley, an all-league selection in basketball, serves as the Crusaders’ two-meter guard and, at 6 feet, 4 four inches tall and 210 pounds, Souza said Riley is a force as a defender.
Saucedo continues to excel as a goalkeeper.
“Last season was Saucedo’s first year in the cage and this year he is a force protecting the net,” Souza said.
The MDCHS coach said the younger Brown is already making big contributions to the team.
Regardless of how the 2017 season develops, it will have a bittersweet ending.
Souza announced this will be his last year coaching the team. He said he is retiring from coaching but will continue to teach at Mater Dei Catholic.
The school will hold interviews at the end of the year to search for a replacement, Souza said
Titan-ic win
Eastlake defeated Hilltop, 11-6, the league opener for both teams Wednesday at the Las Palmas pool in National City. The game was close early on before the host Titans began to pull away in the second half.
Jake Rose led Eastlake in scoring with four goals while Cayden Pangelinan scored three times.
Diego Scheitt scored two goals for the Titans in the win while Josh Randall and Jessie DeAlva each tacked on one goal. EHS goalie James Derrod was credited with 10 saves.
Mark Estrada led Hilltop (3-3) with three goals while Daniel Ryan scored twice and Daniel Gonzalez contributed one goal.
Eastlake head coach Stuart Sokil believes his team can be competitive not only in league play this season but also for the postseason playoffs.
“We’re in Division II and hoping to make waves this year,” said Sokil, a 2012 Hilltop High graduate. “Every team in Division II is hoping to do the same. Division II is, quite honestly, all over the place right now. It would be nice to get back to the semifinals and show that the South Bay has some players who can hang.”
The 2017 Titans feature a senior-heavy lineup (12 of the 17 players listed on the roster are 12th graders) but one that is also built for the future.
“Our varsity is a bit senior heavy, our goalie and our starting two-meters are sophomores and one of our drivers is a junior, so we’re fairly balanced,” Sokil explained.
“What I like to stress, and we’re starting to click with it, is that it’s about the team game and not the individual game. I thought we did a good job of spreading the wealth around and working the ball around pretty evenly today.”
Eastlake (5-8 overall) has faced some tough competition to open the season after participating in the Rancho Bernardo and America’s Finest City tournaments.
The Titans finished 3-3 in the Rancho Bernardo tournament, recording wins over long time nemesis Granite Hills (10-9), Ramona (12-5) and Valley Center (9-8). Losses came against Scripps Ranch (7-6), San Dieguito Academy (6-5) and Mt. Carmel (8-7 in overtime).
Eastlake finished 1-4 in the AFC event with a 7-3 win over South Pasadena and losses to Buchanan (14-3), Grossmont (15-4), Newberg (9-1) and Rancho Bernardo (19-8).
The Titans lost 14-8 to Steele Canyon in a non-league game on Sept. 15.
In a power-packed final, Capolindo defeated Oaks Christian in overtime to win the AFC tournament.
The challenging early season schedule paid off with dividends for the Titans in the team’s league opening win.
The Titans put the ball in the net when they needed and won Wednesday’s game.
“Tough competition got us ready for league, coming in more prepared and gave us a look at what CIF might be like if we get there,” Rose noted.
“People think that we’re under rated this year, think that we’re in a rebuilding season, but this is just the start of something big.”
Hilltop defeated defending South Bay League champion Olympian, 19-2, in a non-league game last Friday to open the season with a 3-1 record.
Estrada led the Lancers with nine goals in the game while teammates Gonzalez and Skylar Garces each scored two goals.
Andres Contreras led the Eagles (1-3) with a pair of goals.
Hilltop faced off the season with some genuine optimism following non-league wins over Helix (9-8) and Mt. Carmel (10-8). Helix won last year’s Division III championship.
An 11-9 loss at West Hills on Sept. 8 tempered that start, however. Hilltop lost, 12-7, to Clairemont in the opening round of this year’s East County Invitational on Monday.
Bonita Vista posted a 9-5 non-league win over San Ysidro to help get its season going. The Barons have been competitive as evidenced by narrow non-league losses to Del Norte (8-7), Patrick Henry (6-5) and Classical Academy (4-3).
Otay Ranch opened the season with losses to La Jolla Country Day (17-7) and San Ysidro (13-7).
Rewind
Five Metro Conference teams received berths in last year’s San Diego Section playoffs.
Mater Dei Catholic received the No. 8 seed in the Division II field and topped ninth-seeded La Jolla Country Day, 11-7, in a first-round game. However, the Crusaders post-season journey ended in the quarterfinals following a 15-8 loss to top-seeded (and eventual division champion) Valley Center.
Eastlake received the No. 11 seed in the Division I playoffs while Otay Ranch received the No. 11 seed in Division II.
Olympian received the No. 2 seed in the Division III playoffs while San Ysidro was seeded ninth. Olympian advanced as far as the division semifinals.
East County Invitational
Saturday, Sept. 30
Championship: Clairemont 11, Mater Dei Catholic 10
Third place: Point Loma 14, Escondido 8
Fifth place: West Hills 8, Hilltop 6
Seventh place: Mission Hills 8, Classical Academy 4
Other scores:
Clairemont 11, Hilltop 8
Hilltop 14, Mira Mesa 1
Hilltop 14, Mount Miguel 0
Hilltop 10, Classical Academy 1
El Capitan 21, Southwest 9
Mater Dei Catholic 19, Monte Vista 10
Mission Hills 16, Olympian 2
Olympian 21, Mount Miguel 6
Classical Academy 9, El Capitan 5
West Hills 13, San Ysidro 6
