CdM, Newport come so close

IRVINE — Corona del Mar High keeps meeting Harvard-Westlake in the important boys’ water polo games.

Last November, the Sea Kings defeated the Wolverines in the CIF Southern Section Division I quarterfinals. Four weeks ago, the teams opened the season with a hard-fought, 8-7, Harvard-Westlake win.

This time, CdM, ranked fifth in Division I, picked a bad game to not bring much offensive firepower.

The Sea Kings lost to Harvard-Westlake, 6-3, in the championship game of the S & R Sport Southern California Water Polo Invitational on Saturday at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.

Corona del Mar (8-6) had punched its ticket into the title game by beating defending CIF Division II champion Servite, 9-8, in the semifinals earlier on Saturday.

But when the Sea Kings got to the championship game, Harvard-Westlake often appeared to have more energy.

“We had three intense games before this and Harvard-Westlake is always a good match,” said Sea Kings senior Ryan Kent. “It was tough. I think we were a little tired.”

The game was competitive early, even after the Wolverines took a 2-0 lead just over three minutes in.

The Sea Kings’ Ryan Hultman scored a straightaway goal with 59 seconds left in the first quarter. Then, midway through the second, Kent scored on a strange play.

His shot went off the bar and caromed back into the field of play, then hit a Harvard-Westlake defender in the back and went back into the goal.

The play had the crowd buzzing and evened the game at 2-all, but Harvard-Westlake soon responded.

Corey Schwartz scored the second of his two goals with 2:06 left in the second quarter, and Harvard-Westlake added two more goals in the third quarter to go up, 5-2.

Corona del Mar, meanwhile, was frustrated. Nick Jones nearly connected on two goals midway through the third quarter. On one, Harvard-Westlake goalie Brian Pingree barely made a save, and the second opportunity just skipped wide of the net.

“They were leaving guys open, and the shots weren’t falling,” Sea Kings Coach Barry O’Dea said. “We just picked the wrong game of the weekend to miss a lot of shots … I think it could have been a lot closer than it was, but we missed shots and that can bite you at the end.”

To his credit, Pingree also kept Corona del Mar at bay for most of the game.

“Their goalie was really good,” Hultman said. “It was intimidating and a little frustrating. I know I had five or six shots that could have gone in, but he made a lot of saves and just got in your head a little bit.”

Down 6-2 in the waning seconds, Corona del Mar scored its last goal when Omar Mobarek skipped a shot in.

O’Dea said he was still very proud of his team’s improvement and second-place finish at the prestigious tournament. Corona del Mar previously finished eighth at the South Coast Tournament on Sept. 23.

“The bottom line is that we were eighth in our last big tournament and we took second in this one,” O’Dea said. “We’re getting better, and that’s a big thing. We took a big step forward.”

Senior Mike Berry, who was held scoreless in the championship game, produced five goals in the 9-8 semifinal win over Servite.

Corona del Mar was ahead 6-2 in the game, but Servite rallied for a 7-6 lead before the Sea Kings charged back for the win.

“We were up by four and kind of lost it,” said Berry, who scored 13 total goals in the tournament. “It was important that we were able to come back.”

He added that, like his coach, he thought the tournament went very well for the Sea Kings.

“It’s still pretty early in the season, so it was good to see what other teams are doing,” Berry said.

NEWPORT HARBOR TAKES FOURTH

The scoreboard temporarily went out late in Newport Harbor High’s third-place game against Servite.

The Sailors’ spirits were also a bit unplugged.

Newport Harbor blew a 3-0 third-quarter lead and lost to Servite, 4-3, to finish in fourth place Saturday at the S & R Sport Southern California Invitational.

It was a rematch of the third-place game at the South Coast Tournament, where the Sailors beat Servite, 5-3, on Sept. 23 at Newport Harbor High.

This time, however, Coach Jason Lynch said his team didn’t finish off attacks.

“I don’t think it came down to the fourth quarter,” Lynch said. “It was really the first half, where we could have broken it open and we didn’t.”

Newport Harbor (10-4), ranked second in Division I, did score early in the game, when Colin McKibbin took Blake Hockenbury’s pass and fired it in with 4:27 left in the first quarter.

McKibbin added another goal midway through the second, when his long shot just as the shot clock expired found the net for a 2-0 Newport Harbor lead.

Brandon Parole added a goal and the Sailors were still ahead, 3-1, until Servite’s Mike Cocchi scored with just one second left in the third quarter.

“We had two three-on-two situations in the second quarter, and we didn’t get a shot off on either one,” Lynch said. “It’s something we practice all the time. I think we could have been up 5-1 or 6-1.”

Instead, Servite scored the go-ahead goal with under three minutes left. Newport Harbor had another man-advantage with under 20 seconds to go, but Hockenbury’s long shot was blocked just before the game ended.

“Myles [Christian] was great in goal, and the defense was good,” Lynch said. “It led to some counterattacks that we couldn’t capitalize on. Both teams were looking pretty tired and there wasn’t the excitement of playing in the championship game.”

Newport Harbor had lost to Harvard-Westlake, 7-4, in the semifinals earlier on Saturday. In that game, the Sailors were behind just 2-1 at halftime but surrendered five goals in the second half.

Hockenbury scored two goals in the game, Clinton Jorth and Riley Hayes each added goals and Bryce McLain recorded eight saves.

S&R; Sport So-Cal Invitational

Championship game

Harvard-Westlake 6, Corona del Mar 3

Score by Quarters

HW 2 1 2 1 — 6 CdM 1 1 0 1 — 3

Harvard-Westlake -- Schwartz 2, Bricklin 1, Evashwick 1, Popof 1, Elliot 1. Saves -- Pingree 14.

Corona del Mar -- Hultman 1, Kent 1, Mobarek 1. Saves -- Peotter 11.

Third-place game

Servite 4, Newport Harbor 3

Score by Quarters

Servite 0 1 1 2 — 4 Newport 1 2 0 0 — 3

Servite -- Cox 2, Meyer 1, Cocchi 1. Saves -- Mesesan 9.

Newport Harbor -- McKibbin 2, Parole 1. Saves -- Christian 12.