Estancia boys’ water polo routs Rancho Alamitos

Noah Gniffke, Griffin Beth and Logan Richard have been playing club water polo together at Costa Mesa Aquatics Club for several years now.

The three players are now all sophomores at Estancia High. Gniffke played water polo at crosstown rival Costa Mesa last season, but he said he transferred to rejoin his good friends at Estancia this year.

“It was kind of hard at Mesa,” Gniffke said. “I knew a lot of people, but they weren’t really my close friends.”

Gniffke became eligible to play games for Estancia this week, following his 30-day sit-out period. If anyone expected Gniffke to be rusty, they were mistaken.

He led the Eagles with four goals, adding three steals as they routed Rancho Alamitos 12-1 in a nonleague game Thursday at Estancia High.

The game wasn’t close, even though both teams are ranked in their respective CIF Southern Section divisions. Estancia (10-9) came in ranked No. 10 in Division 6, while Rancho Alamitos (10-6) is No. 4 in Division 7.

But the Eagles jumped to a 7-1 halftime lead before shutting out the Vaqueros in the second half.

“We definitely went into it thinking that it was going to be a closer game,” said Beth, a goalkeeper who made eight saves. “I think a lot of it was just how well we played together as a team. In this game at least, we functioned really well together. We were able to communicate on defense and offense.”

Richard was a playmaker for the Eagles, with three goals, four assists and seven steals.

“I’ve always been more of a defensive player, so I definitely like when I get those steals or assists to help my teammates out,” he said. “We’ve been using our speed and quickness to counterattack and get down the pool quickly.”

Senior Jose Castaneda and junior Ben Evans each scored twice for the Eagles while senior Jake Blinn added a goal, two assists and a field block.

Estancia has weathered a four-game losing streak already this season, a span in which the Eagles missed Blinn due to a hand injury. But Thursday’s victory was the Eagles’ third in a row.

Gniffke scored a team-best six goals in his first game of the season, a 14-6 nonleague win at Valencia of Placentia on Tuesday.

First-year Estancia coach Matt Frazier said his two junior starters, Evans and Matthew Kehoe, also are each improving.

“Those guys are getting better each game,” Frazier said. “We’re getting there, it’s just that these guys have never played club. We’re going to get there … The future is looking up for us. And I think if we do well in CIF this year, we’re going to get more people out [for water polo].”

Victor De Rosas scored the only goal for Rancho Alamitos. Coach Tori Cree said that her starting goalkeeper Danny Nguyen missed the game with an eye injury, so a field player, Carlos-David Cazares, played in goal for the visitors. He made six saves.

What was plain to see for Cree was that Estancia’s shooting was on the mark.

“A lot of [my players’] shots were either rushed or they weren’t set up correctly,” Cree said. “[Estancia] was definitely quick on those counters.”

Estancia opens Orange Coast League play with a road game against Saddleback on Oct. 4. With 12-time champion Laguna Beach now out of the league, the Eagles and rival Costa Mesa appear to be two of the strongest teams, which means their league finale on Oct. 24 at Estancia could end up being a league championship game.

“I’m super-excited to compete this year,” Beth said. “We’re so much more of a competitive team this year.”

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