Cooper Haddad scores four goals as Huntington Beach boys’ water polo beats Laguna Beach
Going into last season, the Huntington Beach High boys’ water polo team confidently set expectations.
Oilers coach Sasa Branisavljevic wanted to shoot for a top-eight spot in the CIF Southern Section rankings, and ultimately, qualify for the Division 1 playoffs.
Instead, Huntington Beach missed the playoffs in their entirety, a happening that has kept the Oilers focused on the game in front of them this season.
“This year, we tried to be more in the moment,” Branisavljevic said.
Senior defender Joshua Bowman added that he likes to go into games with an underdog mentality, and the Oilers have had no problem keeping their competitive edge in the Surf League.
Cooper Haddad had four goals and an assist, and Chase Dodd scored three goals, as Huntington Beach defeated Laguna Beach 10-8 on Wednesday in a Surf League match at Corona del Mar High.
Huntington Beach (16-7, 3-2 in league), which is ranked No. 4 in the Division 1 and 2 poll, came into the day tied for second place in the league with No. 14 CdM (16-5, 2-2). The Sea Kings were scheduled to cap the Sunset Conference showcase event by hosting rival Newport Harbor (17-3, 4-0).
Goalkeeper Jacob Pyle made 10 saves to go with two steals. Ethan Crooks had two goals, a steal and an assist, and Garrett Lee chipped in with two assists. Tyler Padua also scored a goal for the Oilers.
Laguna Beach (14-11, 0-5), which is ranked 13th, made a strong bid for its first league victory. The Breakers led after each of the first three quarters.
In the first meeting between the teams, Huntington Beach handled Laguna Beach 9-4 on Oct. 2.
“We definitely felt that they wanted to come out with a win,” Crooks said of facing a much-improved Breakers team. “They definitely didn’t want to lose again. They didn’t like the result last time. They came out to kill. You saw in the first half, they were up the whole time.
“We knew coming into this that they were going to come out hard.”
William Kelly had three goals, two steals and a field block for Laguna Beach. James Nolan added three goals to go with a steal and a field block. Sai Bassett had two assists, two steals and scored once, and August Renezeder provided one goal.
Laguna Beach goalkeeper Caden Capobianco stopped six shots and recorded three steals.
In the fourth quarter, Capobianco made back-to-back saves before the Oilers earned a penalty shot inside of two meters on the third possession of the trip to the offensive end of the pool. Haddad buried the penalty shot, tying the score at 8-8.
“The five-meter [penalty shot] after that third possession, it was just [about] grinding,” said Haddad, attributing the scoring chance to the hard work of his teammates. “We can’t give up.”
Dodd scored the game-winning goal with 3:44 remaining, taking a lead pass from Crooks and swimming straight to the right goal post before taking his shot. Haddad scored from the left wing with 1:20 to go, giving the Oilers a two-goal advantage.
With only two matches remaining on the schedule, the Breakers are assured of finishing the regular season with a record above .500. Breakers coach Ethan Damato thinks that his team will receive an at-large berth into the playoffs.
“I think it should be enough,” Damato said. “We knew last week that we needed two wins in our last eight games to qualify above .500, and we got three this last week.
“We took care of business. We’ve got a really tough schedule. We feel good about our chances going into the playoffs. Obviously, I think Division 1 is out of the question right now for us. It is. I know that, but we’re ready to go make a run in Division 2.”
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