Two of the up-and-coming boys water polo programs in Orange County clashed Tuesday night in the wild-card round of the CIF-SS Division 3 boys playoffs.
Costa Mesa and Woodbridge played to a deadlock in the first half but the host Mustangs showed in the second half that they wanted a long-sought victory more.
Misael Andino snapped a tie early in the third period, fellow senior Jacob Petersen added two goals in the quarter and sophomore goalie Tristan Trepas made six of his 10 saves in the second half as Costa Mesa beat Woodbridge, 13-10, to advance to Wednesday’s first round.
Costa Mesa (22-7) plays at second-seeded Redlands East Valley (21-4) but no matter what the outcome, the Mustangs’ playoff run will be notable.
With Andino recording three goals and six assists, the Mustangs won their first playoff match since 2008.
“I could tell as soon as I walked to the pool deck with the rest of my team that we came to win this game,” said Petersen, who scored off a rebound for an 8-6 lead and netted a counterattack strike off a cross pass by Andino for a 10-7 late in the third.
“(The victory) is definitely pretty big.”
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Left-hander Caedmon Fisher scored from the perimeter 16 seconds in the third to give Costa Mesa an 11-8 lead. The sophomore assisted Andino’s power-play strike to make it 12-8 with 4:33 left.
Fisher, Andino, Petersen and junior Augie Cunningham each scored three goals for Costa Mesa, which has seen a resurgence thanks in part to the CMAC club program.
“Amazing victory,” said Costa Mesa co-coach Cody Serrano, who guides the Mustangs along with his twin brother, Dustin.
Junior Kareem Mamoun scored five goals for Woodbridge (17-11), which beat Costa Mesa, 7-5, earlier in the season.
“(Costa Mesa) came out just with a different intensity level in the third quarter that we couldn’t match,” said Woodbridge coach Matt Campbell, who played only one senior. “We knew Woodbridge was a young, talented team as well. … With the early loss (against Woodbridge) gave us a little more fire.”
Freshmen Alec Isaacman, Dylan Patist, Solan Kedzie and Riley Pittman each scored a goal for Woodbridge, which earlier captured the frosh-soph Charger Cup this season.
The Mustangs went 3 for 4 on the extra-man while the Warriors finished 2 for 4.
In other Division 3 wild-card game:
Edison 9, Santiago/Corona 8: Austin Cozza scored the winner with 1:31 left as the visiting Chargers (12-14) rallied from an 8-4 deficit in the second for their first playoff victory since 2013. Cozza finished with five goals for the Chargers, who play at top-seeded Oaks Christian today.
Aliso Niguel 8, Vista Murrieta 4: Evan Johnson made nine saves as the visiting Wolverines advanced to Wednesday’s first-round game at Academy League champion Webb.
In Division 4 first round games:
Northwood 13, Rio Mesa 11: The visiting and top-seeded Timberwolves (18-12) led by five at one point and survived a first-round scare. Joe Shaw scored six goals for Northwood, which plays host to Canyon in the second round Thursday. Canyon edged Cajon, 10-9.
Sonora 10, Long Beach Millikan 9: Ben Angulo scored five goals and Kyle Bolor made 12 saves to lead the Raiders, who led, 9-6, going into the fourth.
In a Division 5 first-round game:
San Juan Hills 18, Western 5: Andrew Mansoor made 15 saves and Brent McClain netted five goals to lead the host Stallions, who play host to Don Lugo on Thursday.
In Division 7 wild card games:
La Mirada 17, La Quinta 5: Senior captain Andrew Valencia had five goals and six steals and junior Daniel Paredes added five goals and five assists as visiting Matadores won their CIF debut. La Mirada started a program five years ago. La Mirada plays at Sierra Vista today in the first round. The winner faces the winner of Katella-Hillcrest.
Saddleback 14, Santa Ana 7: Victor Gonzalez scored five goals to lead the visiting Roadrunners, who play at Granite Hills on Wednesday.
Contact the writer: dalbano@scng.com
