Mesa routs Estancia in boys’ water polo
The Costa Mesa High boys’ water polo team is gearing up for what it hopes is a deep run in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.
It’s been a while since the Mustangs have made a run like that in CIF.
But beating cross-town-rival Estancia is something that has been very much commonplace.
The Mustangs blitzed the Eagles, 22-3, on Wednesday at Costa Mesa High, earning their fifth straight Battle for the Bell victory.
Junior center Jacob Petersen scored a season-high seven goals for the Mustangs (19-8, 3-1 in league), who locked up second place in the Orange Coast League for the fourth straight year. But Petersen had help.
Senior Jorge Miranda had six goals and five steals for Costa Mesa, ranked No. 10 in Division 3. Sophomore Augie Cunningham tallied three goals and three steals, and freshman Caedmon Fisher filled up the stat sheet with three goals, four steals and six assists.
Tony Shin scored twice and Nick Ly added a goal for the winners, who led, 8-0, after the first quarter and 14-1 at halftime.
“We have threats everywhere,” said Costa Mesa Coach Dustin Serrano, who coaches his alma mater with his twin brother Cody. “It’s a deep, young team, and it’s going to be exciting in future years to come ... Our losses go to only ranked teams, so that’s another improvement we had this season. We don’t lose to teams that we shouldn’t lose to.”
Senior goalie Ivan Shikhelman had nine saves for Costa Mesa, and junior Corbin Fisher added three steals, a field block and an assist.
The Mustangs’ overall ability impressed many on the pool deck, including Estancia Coach John Carpenter.
“They’re just a very, very talented team, and deep,” Carpenter said. “The second seven kids, there wasn’t much drop off. The goalie played an outstanding game. We got some shots at him, and he stopped them. But [my players] never gave up. They kept swimming until the very end.”
The Eagles (10-17, 2-2 in league) finished third in league, and also advance to the Division 3 playoffs for the first time since 2010. Against Costa Mesa, Estancia junior Kyle Fitzgerald had two goals and a steal, and sophomore Cobi White also scored. Senior Chris DeFrenza had two field blocks, and sophomore keeper Eizik Leyva made six saves.
“None of these guys have ever been to CIF, so it’s new to them, but we’ve been talking about it the last two or three years,” said Carpenter, whose team plays host to Westminster on Friday in its season finale.
The Mustangs, who play host to El Modena on Friday, also have no games next week. They will use it to get ready for their CIF run. Last year, they didn’t get far, losing at Trabuco Hills in the opening round. But an infusion of young talent has helped Mesa.
Dustin Serrano said the goal is to advance to the Division 3 title match, where the Mustangs could see 10-time defending league champion Laguna Beach. The Breakers beat the Mustangs in the league opener on Sept. 30, but Mesa kept it respectable with an 11-4 final score.
“Me and Cody have been preaching that the little things are going to get us far in CIF, not the big goals, the highlight plays,” Dustin Serrano said. “It’s the little things, [like] under-pressure passing, using your legs, staying balanced. Stuff like that is what’s going to win us games in CIF.”
Petersen said the Mustangs want to be up to the challenge.
“We know that they’re going to be some of the hardest games that we’ve played this year, so we’ve just got to start putting that in our practice, getting the right mind set going,” Petersen said. “[We want to] act as if we’re a Division 1 team, going up against the best.”
