Huntington Beach’s boys water polo roster tantalizes on paper with several of the hottest up-and-coming names in Orange County. But the No. 3 Oilers showed a deeper side Tuesday against visiting No. 7 Servite.
In their first match since the resignation of Coach Brian Anderson, the Oilers displayed plenty of hustle in a 9-7 victory.
Huntington Beach’s energy surfaced with three goals off rebounds, including a spectacular, mid-air slap by 6-foot-4 freshman Jacob Cavano in the second period. Captain Noah Nelson and Ethan Wojciechowski also scored on rebounds for the Oilers (6-1), supporting the 2-meter power of Quinten Osborne (three goals) and the defensive wall of goalie Alex Wolf (12 saves).
“We played with a lot of heart,” said Cavano, who played his first game after being sidelined with a sore shoulder.
“We were fighting our hardest to get every goal we could.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Huntington Beach administration confirmed that Anderson resigned Monday for personal reasons and that assistant Chris Kaps is the interim coach. Principal Rocky Murray declined further comment and Anderson didn’t elaborate in a text message.
“It’s been a little rough,” Cavano said, “but we can play well together.”
Huntington Beach shut out center Max Weber but the Friars (7-3) got three goals from Stephen Marcin and eight saves and five steals from goalie Jeff Sherer.
The Friars never led but trimmed the Oilers’ lead to 5-4 in the middle of the third. Osborne responded with a sweep shot for a goal from center and Wojciechowski added a rebound-goal after Osborne’s shot bounced off the crossbar as the Oilers regained control.
“I think we did all right on defense,” Friars coach Mustafa Hassan said. “We’re a work in progress and we’re improving.”
Of the rebound goals, Hassan said, “That was the difference in the game.”
In other nonleague games:
Long Beach Wilson 17, No. 4 Corona del Mar 13: Zach D’Sa and Grant LaBounty each scored seven goals to lead the Bruins (5-0) at the temporary pool at Belmont Plaza. All five of the Bruins’ victories are against Orange County teams, including four teams in the Top 10.
“I thought we had potential,” Long Beach Wilson first-year coach Jeff Nesmith said in a text. “Our two studs, Grant, andm Zach, have scored a lot but the rest of the guys who didn’t get to play much last year have really stepped up on defense and playing team ball.”
Villa Park 8, Yorba Linda 7: Kyle Hicks scored three goals to pace the host Spartans (2-2)
Katella 16, Orange 2: Jason Guzman scored eight goals to lead the visiting Knights (5-3).
Tustin 6, Buena Park 5: Nate John, Shane Sweeney and Dakota Friel each scored twice for the host Tillers (7-4).
In the Sea View League:
Capistrano Valley 15, Trabuco Hills 10: Jacob Rendina and Austin Sechrest each scored five goals to lead the visiting Cougars (5-3, 1-0) while Sam Baber netted six for the Mustangs (5-2, 0-1).
