Monarchs too strong for CdM boys’ water polo
SANTA ANA — Mater Dei High boys’ water polo coach Chris Segesman said he was a bit nervous coming into Thursday’s nonleague regular-season finale against Corona del Mar.
The Monarchs, top-ranked in CIF Southern Section Division 1, hadn’t played No. 6 CdM since the semifinals of the South Coast Tournament on Sept. 26. Mater Dei won that game by four goals, but Segesman said he wasn’t sure what to expect nearly six weeks later.
From the beginning, however, his team did its best to alleviate any of Segesman’s concerns.
Mater Dei jumped on Corona del Mar early and claimed the victory, 17-8, at Mater Dei High.
Both teams now await the release of the Division 1 brackets on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Mater Dei (25-2), the Trinity League champion, took a 6-0 lead on Pacific Coast League champion CdM (17-8) after the first quarter. Monarchs senior Thomas Dunstan had a hand in all six of the goals, scoring the first three and assisting on the next three.
Dunstan, a U.S. national team member who transferred from Connecticut and now lives in Newport Coast, finished with seven goals and five steals.
“He’s tall, he’s lanky, he’s a great passer,” Segesman said. “He’s the next level. Obviously, it helps, but [Sean] Duncan did a nice job holding position inside and Luke Wyatt demanded a lot of attention. It opened up Dunstan, but he played really well today. I think he was five for five until he missed a shot, so that’s pretty impressive.”
The Sea Kings missed plenty of shots in the early going. They didn’t get on the board until junior Will Rodosky scored from the perimeter at the shot-clock buzzer with six minutes left in the first half. CdM pulled within 7-3 later in the half when Rodosky scored a penalty shot earned by Andres White, but couldn’t get closer.
“I’m a little disappointed with how my boys started that game off,” CdM Coach Barry O’Dea said. “I don’t normally say harsh things, but I think that they could have played a little bit harder in that first quarter and set a different tone. That’s what I’m disappointed in; we didn’t set a good tone for ourselves right off the bat. We’re better than that. They got right up in our grill, and we didn’t match it. If we’re going to do anything in the playoffs, my seniors are going to have to show up to play and be ready to play, and my goalies have to make some blocks in the first quarter.”
Mater Dei has 10 players — half of its 20-player roster — who live in either Newport Beach or Newport Coast, a list that includes Dunstan, Wyatt, Will Lapkin, Ford Secrist, Bennie Seybold, Jack Seybold, Miles Stapleberg, Ben Teitscheid, Matthew Brennan and Warren Loth. Of those players, Lapkin had two goals, two assists and two steals, while Wyatt and Jack Seybold also scored twice.
Brennan, Loth and Bennie Seybold also scored for the winners, who converted seven of 11 power-play chances. CdM earned just two such chances, converting neither.
Foster Hoose and Rodosky each scored twice for CdM, with Brendan Hack, Vincent Ong, Jon Polos and Andres White all adding goals. Matt Moran made four saves, and Tristin Ospina added a save in goal.
CdM was coming off a tough fourth-place finish at the Finis Memorial Cup in San Jose last weekend. The Sea Kings lost to Coronado, 10-9, in the semifinals and Orange Lutheran, 14-11, in the third-place game. O’Dea said they played the third-place game without senior co-captain Ben Brooks, who was “rolled” in the semifinal game, while White and Ong both fouled out.
Orange Lutheran came into the tournament ranked No. 6 in Division 1, but moved up to No. 5 after beating CdM. The Sea Kings dropped from No. 4 to No. 6.
“We should have won the Coronado game,” O’Dea said. “We were up, and we made some mistakes. The seniors have got to finish games ... [but] the [regular] season’s over now. Everyone’s 0-0, so we’ve got a fresh start next week. Put it this way, Mater Dei lost last week to Loyola, and I guarantee that Chris kicked their [behinds at practice] for the last week. We just got beat by Mater Dei right now, and let’s just say that our prep for CIF is not going to be a whole lot different. I think we’re going to be ready to go come next Wednesday [for the first-round game].”
Polos said there is a template for success. Two years ago, the Sea Kings were routed by Mater Dei, 15-3, in the regular-season finale. But when the teams played in the Division 1 quarterfinals, the score was tied at halftime before Mater Dei pulled away for a 10-4 victory.
“Two years ago, our emphasis moving on from that game was don’t dwell on it,” Polos said. “At this point, it’s important that we practice hard, prepare for CIF and move on ... We haven’t had our best game yet, and we all know it.”
