Mater Dei’s boys water polo team made an impressive run to the finals of the Santa Barbara Invitational but it ended swiftly Saturday at the hands of a rival.
U.S. national team center Ben Hallock scored five goals and Harvard-Westlake of Studio City opened a four-goal lead at halftime as the Wolverines defended their tournament title with a 12-3 victory at Dos Pueblos of Goleta.
Top-seeded Harvard-Westlake, which has defeated Mater Dei in the past two CIF-SS Division 1 finals, opened a 7-3 lead at halftime and outscored the second-seeded Monarchs, 5-0, in the second half.
Jackson Seybold scored twice for Mater Dei while national teamer Thomas Dunstan added one.
The Monarchs beat Loyola of Los Angeles, 10-7, in the semifinals and opened the tournament Friday by defeating Santa Barbara and Newport Harbor by a combined 36-3.
Left-hander Duncan Froomer netted three goals for Harvard-Westlake (5-0) and center Felix Brozyna-Vilim added two.
The Wolverines extended their winning streak to 42 matches overall and to six against Mater Dei.
Harvard-Westlake’s last defeat came against Mater Dei in the finals of the North-South Challenge on Oct. 26, 2013.
In the other semifinal, Harvard-Westlake defeated Huntington Beach, 11-7. The Oilers (4-2) fell in the third-place game to Loyola of Los Angeles, 7-6.
Dana Hills finished sixth after falling to Miramonte of Orinda, 13-5.
At the Weisz Cup:
In the final:
Mater Dei B 15, JSerra 10: Keegan Coleman and Owen Chappell each scored three goals and Chris Martinez made 16 saves to lead Mater Dei’s junior varsity (5-0) past JSerra (4-1) at Tustin High.
Mater Dei, comprised of mostly of juniors, led 6-5 at halftime but used a 5-0 run in the third period to seize control against a JSerra team considered a county and Trinity League darkhorse.
Mater Dei scored seven goals in the third, including two on counterattacks and two off drives.
“We want them pushed,” Mater Dei coach O.J. Vazquez said of entering a junior varsity team in a varsity tournament. “Ultimately, these guys’ goal is to be on the varsity.”
Mater Dei also beat Beckman, 19-6, and Irvine, 13-9.
Damjan Kertesz scored four goals for JSerra, which played without coach Paul Cruzan (wedding) and Cooper Dolan.
In the third-place match:
Beckman 14, Aliso Niguel 12: Collin Sohn scored four goals, including one from center with 1:13 left, to lift the Patriots at Tustin. Nick Ure also scored four goals for Aliso Niguel.
