Boys’ water polo: Corona del Mar places fourth at prestigious South Coast Tournament

The Corona del Mar High boys’ water polo team had its biggest win of the young season Friday night, rallying to beat Huntington Beach, 8-7, in the quarterfinals of the South Coast Tournament.

With that win over the No. 4-seeded Oilers, No. 5 CdM guaranteed that it would outperform its seeding.

And, although the Sea Kings lost twice Saturday at Newport Harbor High to finish fourth, they seem to be jelling together.

CdM gave top-seeded eventual champion Mater Dei a fight in the semifinals before falling, 11-7. The Sea Kings then appeared a bit tired in the third-place game and fell to Foothill, 11-4.

Newport Harbor, the No. 8 seed, finished 10th after falling to Orange Lutheran, 12-9, in the ninth-place game at Corona del Mar High.

Mater Dei, featuring several players from Newport Beach, defended its South Coast Tournament title by beating Loyola, 13-5, in the championship match. In fact, it was the Sea Kings who provided the most opposition to the Monarchs in the tournament.

“I think we definitely progressed over the weekend,” emerging CdM junior Will Rodosky said. “We felt a little need to get some revenge on Huntington [after losing a 9-7 nonleague game against the Oilers on Sept. 9], and we got it done there. We came out against Mater Dei and started off slow, but we were able to get back in it. A few things didn’t go our way, but I think we played pretty well.”

CdM (4-3) certainly did start slow against Mater Dei, falling behind, 4-0, after the first quarter. But the Sea Kings battled back to within 5-3 by halftime, as centers Brendan Hack and Tamir Avital scored before Rodosky struck on the counterattack with 13 seconds left in the half.

The Sea Kings pulled within 5-4 early in the third quarter, when Ben Brooks found Avital for another goal at center. But Mater Dei ended the quarter on a 3-0 run, two of those on the power play by Sean Duncan.

The exclusion count was an issue of contention with CdM Coach Barry O’Dea, who was yellow-carded midway through the quarter and issued a red card later in the frame. The referee gave O’Dea the red card after he argued that a Mater Dei player knocked the ball away from Avital after he drew an exclusion.

At the time of O’Dea’s ejection, CdM had been called for 13 exclusions and Mater Dei just four. The Monarchs finished the game five-for-14 on the power play, while CdM converted two of seven chances.

“We get to within one, and then all of a sudden you’re down a man three straight possessions,” O’Dea said after the game. “It happened the other night against El Toro, too, with the same official. I don’t know what to tell you about it. Our guys aren’t doing anything different than the other teams are, but in this particular game we had a lot of exclusions called on us that hurt us. But I thought our five-man [defense] was really good. When you’ve got to play five-man 14 times and you only give up five goals, you’re doing something right. That’s a good thing.”

Avital led CdM with three goals against Mater Dei, and Hack scored twice, with Foster Hoose adding a goal. Junior goalie Matt Moran, who was solid all weekend, made seven saves and had three steals.

Newport Beach residents Will Lapkin, Bennie Seybold and Jack Seybold (two goals) were among the goal-scorers for Mater Dei.

CdM assistant Kareem Captan coached the team against Foothill, with O’Dea forced to sit out due to the red card. Rodosky scored twice for the Sea Kings, with Hack scoring one and Brooks also adding a goal. Rodosky and Andres White each had two steals.

With one second left in the game, both White and Foothill goalie Arash Izadmanesh were ejected, and White was issued a flagrant foul. The senior defender will have to miss the Sea Kings’ next game, the Pacific Coast League opener at Woodbridge on Thursday.

But, overall, it was a solid weekend for the Sea Kings.

“It was a good way to judge where we were this early in the season,” Hack said. “We still have two tournaments to play, and we’ll meet up with [Mater Dei] again at the end of the season for our head-to-head game. This will give us some things to work on over the next few weeks.”

*

Newport Harbor also left the tournament feeling positive, despite falling to Orange Lutheran in the ninth-place game. The margin was closer than when the Sailors played the Lancers in the seventh-place game at the Santa Barbara tournament earlier this month, a game that Orange Lutheran won, 13-4.

“It was promising,” Newport Coach Ross Sinclair said. “I’m proud of the way these guys fought and battled, and didn’t give up throughout the weekend at all. Mentally, we grew as a team and got tougher.”

Cole Brosnan led Newport Harbor (6-6) with four goals against Orange Lutheran, and center Gavin Kunkle scored three, while John Rankin and Ben Morrison scored one each. Senior goalie Joe Ferraro, who Sinclair said played well all tournament, made eight saves.

Kunkle and Morrison, both seniors, saw their first action of the season this weekend after missing the first three weeks of the season for unspecified reasons.

“They’re acclimating back into it,” Sinclair said. “Everyone is starting to play their role really well, which is nice as a team.”

The Sailors also beat Capistrano Valley, 9-7, earlier Saturday. Morrison had three goals, and Rankin tallied two goals and two assists. Kunkle, Cole Brosnan and Ryan Brosnan all scored once, and Ferraro made 10 saves. Ryan Brosnan, Nic Rimlinger, Ben Toffel and Morrison each had two steals.

Newport Harbor plays host to rival CdM in the annual Battle of the Bay game on Saturday at 7 p.m.

“It’ll be fun,” Sinclair said. “ I mean, CdM had a great tournament. Their centers are legit ... it’s going to be another fun one. We have our work cut out, handling some of those big boys.”