Mater Dei’s boys water polo team gave Harvard-Westlake of Studio City another close match Saturday night but a victory against the top-ranked team in CIF-SS Division 1 remained just out of reach.
Harvard-Westlake rallied from a one-goal deficit going into the fourth period by scoring four times in the final quarter for an 8-6 victory in the finals of the North-South Challenge at Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton.
Mater Dei led, 5-4, after three periods but the Wolverines (22-0) improved to 3-0 this season against the Monarchs (17-4), ranked second in Division 1 and No. 1 in Orange County. The Wolverines’ average margin of victory is 2.7 goals in the three games against Mater Dei.
“I am happy with the way we played and made a huge step in our preparation for CIF,” Mater Dei coach Chris Segesman said in a text. “It was a good tournament for us, the best we have played all season.”
Harvard-Westlake owns a four-game winning streak against Mater Dei, which it also beat in the Division 1 final last season.
Raphael Raede and Evan Rosenfeld each scored three goals for Harvard-Westlake, which played without Ben Hallock (game suspension from semifinals).
Mater Dei was seeking a record fifth consecutive North-South Challenge title. Nick Silvers and Jackson Seybold each scored twice in the final while Jonathan Van De Velde added 10 saves.
The Monarchs defeated No. 4 Laguna Beach, 17-3, in the semifinals behind five goals by Silvers and 10 saves by Van De Velde.
In the third-place game:
Loyola of Los Angeles 9, Laguna Beach 6: The Breakers finished fourth in the tournament.
In other games:
El Toro 11, Newport Harbor 10: Chad Nelson had three goals and two assists and Brandon Shields added 17 saves to lead the host Chargers (11-9).
In the Central Orange County Championships:
Costa Mesa 10, Marina 8: The Mustangs captured the tournament title at Santa Ana Valley.
In the Canyon/Valencia tournament:
JSerra 15, Segerstrom 10: The Lions captured the tournament title at Canyon against the Jaguars, who went 2 for 10 on the power-play.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
