Corona del Mar counters Esperanza's improvement

Corona del Mar’s third-seeded boys water polo team used an opportunistic counterattack to defeat visiting Esperanza, 12-7, in a CIF-SS Division I first round playoff match Wednesday night.

Esperanza (14-15) pushed Corona del Mar (23-5) for much of the match but the Sea Kings pulled away late on the strength of seven counterattack goals. They also drew a penalty shot on another counterattack.

“That was the difference,” Corona del Mar coach Barry O’Dea said. “We’ve been working hard on our transition game the last 2 1/2 weeks. … I think we saw some results from that today.”

Corona del Mar wasn’t noticeably faster in the pool. But the Sea Kings’ shooters turned steals and mistakes on offense by the Aztecs into goals. Corona del Mar, for example, made Esperanza pay for not dumping the ball properly as the shot clock expired or for shooting inside 5 meters on a foul.

“They countered us,” Esperanza coach Galen Diaz said. “(But) all game we battled.”

Earlier in the season, Corona del Mar defeated Esperanza, 18-9. But this time, Esperanza trailed, 8-7, with 1:20 left in the third period after an impressive perimeter strike by Kevin Masone. The junior blasted in a shot from about 7 meters off the bottom of the crossbar.

“Huge improvement,” Diaz said of his team’s effort.

But Corona del Mar’s Max Bergeson and Blake Terry scored counterattack goals in the final 43 seconds of the third to extend the Sea Kings’ lead to 10-7. Terry scored again on the counter with 4:47 left in the fourth to make it 11-7.

Bergeson and Chase Watson each finished with four goals while Terry and Michael Liao added two apiece.

"They're good," O'Dea said of Esperanza, which led, 3-2, after the first period. "Galen is a great coach. ... We knew it was going to be tough."

Masone and Daniel Lenhart each had three goals for the Aztecs. The left-handed Lenhart finished the season with 112 goals, which leads the county. He then talked to coaches from UCLA and Long Beach State after the match.

"If he's not a first-team All-County player, he's a first-team All-County kid," Diaz said of Lenhart, who the coach praised for his unselfish play this season.

Both goalies played well. Corona del Mar’s Bruce Bearer had 11 saves and Esperanza’s Kevin Homrighausen had nine.

Corona del Mar plays host to Ventura in the quarterfinals Friday at 5 p.m.

“I’m sure it will be a good game,” Bergeson said.

In other Division I matches:

Ventura 11, Northwood 10: The host and sixth-seeded Cougars scored with 16 seconds left to edge the Timberwolves, who led, 5-4, at halftime. Northwood goalie James Hartshorne finished with 12 saves and six steals. Kyle Kim-E and Parker Simmons each added three goals. Sophomore lefty Jack Mayers scored twice and had four assists.

Los Alamitos 10, Irvine 8: Joe Ferretti scored five goals at the Joint Forces Training Base to lead the Griffins (16-12), who play at No. 1 Loyola of Los Angeles on Friday. Loyola opened with a 22-3 victory against Buena.

Newport Harbor 16, Huntington Beach 3: Zach Lucas and Jack Yeager led eight players in scoring with three goals apiece as the host and No. 2 Sailors (24-4) rolled into the quarterfinals. Newport Harbor will play host to Harvard-Westklake on Friday. On Wednesday, Harvard-Westlake defeated Santa Barbara, 11-4.

El Toro 20, University 5: The fourth-seeded Chargers opened a 9-0 lead after the first period and got four goals apiece from Nick Rascon and Joey Fuentes to advance to Friday's quarterfinal against visiting Dos Pueblos. Dos Pueblos defeated Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, 15-6.

In Division III first round:

Sage Hill 11, Schurr of Montebello 7: Andrew Dorne scored seven goals at Corona del Mar to lead the Lightning (11-7) to its first postseason victory.

Laguna Beach 25, Chino 5: Nolan McConnell led 11 players in scoring with five goals and Max McCarter had 15 saves to lead the No. 3 seeded and host Breakers.

In Division V second round:

Troy 10, Culver City 8: Josh Stedman scored six goals at El Dorado to lead the Warriors (21-9), who led, 10-2, going into the fourth period.

El Segundo 11, Fullerton 5: Michael Shapiro capped a strong playoffs with three goals for the visiting Indians at Mira Costa.

Charter Oak 5, Sunny Hills 3: Justin Yoo scored twice in the loss for the Lancers, who led 2-1 at halftime at El Dorado.