SOUTHERN SECTION WATER POLO FINALS : DIVISION II : Poly Caught in Esperanza Squeeze Play

LONG BEACH â€”  With one of the best young goalkeepers in the nation on his team, Esperanza Coach Doug Kimberly can afford to tinker a bit.

So in the Southern Section Division II championship match against Riverside Poly Wednesday at Belmont Plaza, Kimberly set up a collapsing zone defense to slow Poly’s powerful inside game.

Shut down inside, Poly had to rely on scoring from the outside, but time and again Esperanza goalkeeper Craig Thomas got in the way and second-seeded Esperanza won easily, 13-6, to capture the Aztecs’ first sectional water polo title in school history.

“I think our defense really took them out of sync,� Kimberly said. “We forced them to shoot outside, which is something they aren’t really comfortable with.�

Thomas, a senior who is a keeper on the U.S. Youth national team, had 12 saves, providing the Esperanza defense with a great safety net.

“(Thomas) may have been the best player in the game tonight,� Riverside Poly Coach Dave Almquist said.

However, after trailing, 8-1, in the second quarter and 11-3 in the third, Poly (22-9) was able to make a bit of a run.

Brian Brown scored the last two of three consecutive Poly goals to cut the Aztec lead to 11-6 with 27 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Brown, who usually plays inside in the two-meter position, scored his goals on outside shots--the first a well-placed lob. Poly’s Brian Hester hit the post with a skip shot at the third-quarter buzzer that would have cut the Aztecs’ lead to four.

It was enough to make Kimberly wonder.

“I was really tempted to come out of that defense when they scored those three,� he said, “but I kept my hands in my pockets.�

Thomas wasn’t worried.

“A couple of them were nice shots but the one that gave them the momentum was the lob,� Thomas said. “I had the block but I knocked it in the goal myself.

Poly didn’t get any closer. Thomas and the Aztecs’ collapsing defenders knocked away anything close and shut the Bears out in the fourth quarter.

Eric Poole, Esperanza’s two-meter man, and driver Brandon Chastain each scored four goals for the Aztecs.