Huntington Beach’s boys water polo team kept its postseason goal alive Wednesday night by flexing its strength up-the-middle against a squad with plenty of its own muscle.
Goalie Alex Wolf made 16 saves and center Quinten Osborne scored four goals from center to help the host No. 5 Oilers control key areas in the middle of the pool en route to a 12-8 victory against No. 7 Santa Margarita in an intense CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match.
The Oilers’ goal is to reach the semifinals, and they will have to sink third-seeded Loyola of Los Angeles in the quarterfinals Saturday at Huntington Beach to get there. The Cubs, who beat the Oilers early in the season, advanced with a 14-6 victory against Northwood.
Huntington Beach (20-6) last reached the Division 1 semifinals in 1958.
“I want to do it for the seniors,” said Osborne, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound sophomore. “I don’t want this to be our last game. That was my motivation this time and that will be my next motivation.”
Huntington Beach again displayed its depth as seven players scored. Ethan Wojciechowski and James Vlachonassios each added two goals apiece for the Oilers, who never trailed.
Skyler Munatones scored a critical goal in the third, converting an assist from Curtis Jarvis on the counterattack for a 9-6 lead with 2:44 left.
The Sunset League champions sparked the counter with a field block.
“We communicated on defense,” the 6-foot-7 Wolf said. “We played like a team.”
Rugged seniors Sam Slobodien and Spencer Lupin each scored three goals for the Eagles (23-7), who went 0 for 5 on the power play.
Santa Margarita, the third-place team from the Trinity League, was seeking its first victory in the Division 1 playoffs since 1997.
In other first-round games:
Newport Harbor 9, Agoura 8:Clay Davison scored twice on penalties and on a perimeter strike from 10 meters in the fourth as the Sailors (11-16) rallied from an 8-6 deficit at Westlake.
Newport Harbor lost nine one-goals games in the regular season but advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals against No. 2 seeded Mater Dei, which advance with a 19-2 victory against Long Beach Poly.
“You learn a lot when things are tough,” Newport Harbor interim coach Marco Palazzo said. “We learned a lot from those games.”
Agoura, the Marmonte League champion, entered with a 16-game postseason winning streak. The Chargers won Division 4 titles in 2010 and 2011 and Division 2 crowns the past two seasons. Agoura’s previous playoff loss came in the 2009 Division 4 semifinals against Mira Costa, 10-7.
“I’m happy for the boys,” Palazzo said. “They deserve it.”
Orange Lutheran 19, Westlake 9: Jake Markle scored four goals at Santiago Canyon College as the Lancers (20-7) won their first playoff game.
In Division 3 first round:
Trabuco Hills 12, Costa Mesa 8: Alan Cerise made 16 saves to lead the host Mustangs (21-5).
Laguna Beach 21, Vista Murrieta 3: Jack Dodson scored four goals to lead nine players in scoring as the top-seeded and host Breakers rolled.
Capo Valley 20, Chaparral 7: Austin Sechrest scored eight goals and added five steals and Jacob Rendina netted six goals to lead the host Cougars.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
