Marina boys' water polo beats Estancia, wins first CIF playoff game since 2003

Marina's Sam Capifoni takes a shot against Estancia's Noah Will in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs at Costa Mesa High on Tuesday.

By Matt SzaboStaff Writer

Nov. 5, 2019 9:54 PM PT

The Marina High boys’ water polo team is not used to postseason success.

The Vikings have made sure that their first appearance in the CIF Southern Section playoffs since 2005 isn’t “one and done.”

Sophomore Vincent Labonte scored four goals as Marina beat Estancia 12-6 in the first round of the Division 5 playoffs Tuesday night at Costa Mesa High.

Juniors Sean Harvey and Ryan Welsch each scored twice for the Vikings (14-13), who earned their first playoff win since 2003. Marina, the third-place team from the Wave League, will play at Burbank Burroughs in the second round Thursday.

Burroughs, the fourth-place team from the Pacific League, beat Moreno Valley Valley View 16-11 in another first-round game.

“I think we rose to the occasion and realized we didn’t really have much to lose here,” said Marina senior Sam Capifoni, who scored once, along with junior defender Kolby Burke, junior Daniel Virak and sophomore Tanner Reynolds. “This could have been our last game, so we might as well just go all out.”

Marina goalkeeper Tanner Powell blocks an Estancia shot in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs at Costa Mesa High on Tuesday.

Senior goalkeeper Tanner Powell made 14 saves and added three steals against Estancia (20-9), the second-place team from the Orange Coast League.

The Vikings won the rubber match against the Eagles after the teams split two matches during the regular season. Powell didn’t play in Marina’s 11-5 loss to Estancia in the Westminster tournament on Oct. 5.

Estancia got off to a hot start Tuesday, scoring on its first two possessions to take a 2-0 lead. Each time, Logan Richard fed Noah Gniffke for the score. Gniffke ended up scoring all six goals for the Eagles.

“We came out a little bit slow, a little bit flat,” Marina coach Brian Baier said. “Just a couple of minor mental mistakes that led to those goals, but then we settled in. We didn’t get flustered, which is good. We settled in, started being more patient, started having better awareness. We know Estancia runs a hard zone, so we just have been working on attacking the zone. They finally put the pieces together and were taking their shots when they had them.”

Estancia's Noah Gniffke takes a shot against Marina's Tanner Reynolds in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs at Costa Mesa High on Tuesday.

Marina led just 5-3 late in the first half, but it scored four straight goals to take a 9-3 advantage midway through the third quarter. Labonte’s shot in close was blocked by Estancia goalkeeper Griffin Beth (six saves), but it still spun in. Harvey scored on a backhand goal from set, and Reynolds made a lob goal from the left wing. Virak capped the run with an outside shot, something that was seemingly working for the Vikings all match long.

“It hasn’t been that way all season during games,” Baier said. “I see it in practice, but I think today was the first day where I really saw us shooting with confidence. It was good to see ... and also taking the right shots and setting up the right shots, with several passes, keeping the ball dry and being patient.”

The Eagles did not have a similarly balanced attack, in a frustrating match for coach Matt Frazier. Estancia was coming off a narrow 9-7 loss to Costa Mesa last week in the Battle for the Bell rivalry match, which Frazier called his team’s best of the season, but it could not repeat the effort.

“I thought it was an uninspired game by us,” he said. “They started hitting shots and we just fell apart, on offense and defense.”

The Vikings came away with not only their first postseason win in 16 years, but also visions of a deep run in the playoffs.

“This being a young team with so little experience, this was a pretty underdog game, especially against Estancia,” Capifoni said. “We don’t have much of a bench, so it’s kind of what you see is what you get out in the field. If we’re able to hold it together and play as a team and not make foolish mistakes, that’s huge. That’s what wins games, and if Tanner blocks, Tanner carries that weight.”