The CIF-SS rankings didn’t suggest a mismatch. Dana Hills boys water polo coach Matt Rosa certainly wasn’t expecting one.
The Dolphins’ players had other ideas.
Dana Hills turned a Division 2 showdown into a 16-5 victory against visiting Damien of La Verne on Tuesday.
The Dolphins (5-2), ranked second in Division 2 and sixth in the county, led, 8-0, after the first period. They scored five goals on counterattacks.
After Jack McLaughlin blasted a shot in off the side-post for a 12-2 lead with two seconds left in the opening half, a respectful game announcer simply said, “Oh.”
The Dolphins’ defense and counterattack had already said enough against Damien (1-1), ranked third in Division 2.
“The outcome was not what I expected,” Rosa said. “I thought their good players did some good things at times, but we really exploited the rest of their team.”
Stanford commit Bennett Williams paced Dana Hills’ attack with eight goals, including six on the counterattack.
The senior scored four consecutive goals in the final two minutes of the first period to finish the opening seven minutes with six goals. He netted a power-play goal off an exclusion drawn by McLaughlin, a cross-cage perimeter strike and counterattack goals off assists by McLaughlin and Kai Hanson.
“(Damien) came out with a strategy that they were going to put Matt Maier on Bennett and try to slow down Bennett and I think it backfired,” Rosa said. “It took them out of their offense … and Bennett was still able to counterattack even though he was guarded by their star. It was a double whammy for them.”
McLaughlin and Hanson scored three goals apiece and both added three steals to help ignite the counterattack. Dana Hills goalie Riley Zachary made 12 saves, including three against a Damien power play that finished 0 for 7.
“They had a great counter,” Damien first-year coach Josh Thomasson said of the Dolphins. “They gave it to us.”
Dana Hills, in a tune-up for this weekend’s South Coast Tournament, finished 3 for 8 with the extra attacker.
In the South Coast League:
San Clemente 10, Tesoro 8: Parker Bennis scored four goals to lead the visiting Tritons in a tight opener for each school. Matt Diacono netted four for the Titans.
In nonleague:
Esperanza 12, El Dorado 7: Luke Rhone had four goals and four assists to lead the visiting Aztecs.
No. 9 Villa Park 9, Yorba Linda 7: Troy Furniss scored five goals to lead the Spartans (4-0) past the host Mustangs and goalie Jacob Walker (15 saves).
No. 5 Corona del Mar 8, Long Beach Wilson 6: Centers Tamir Avital and Brendan Hack and attacker Vincent Ong each scored twice to lead the host Sea Kings (1-1).
Estancia 14, Santa Ana Valley 3: Jason Chesemore scored seven goals to lead the host Eagles.
Marina 15, University: Leo Yuno scored 11 goals to lead the visiting Vikings.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
