El Toro rides momentum to Division I title

IRVINE - El Toro's Joey Colton and Russell Renteria each scored on shots from almost midpool in the third period.

Newport Harbor had some near-goals hit off the cage, and in one case, a shot went off the goalie's head.

El Toro quickly fired up its "R and R Boys" combination of Renteria and Nick Rascon, and relied on goalie Garrett Danner late.

Newport Harbor's offense arrived late and struggled on the power play.

Yes, there seemed to be multiple forces at work Saturday night in the CIF-SS Division I boys water polo final.

But in the end, El Toro's skill and some of the breaks added up to the fourth-seeded Chargers' 11-9 victory against the No. 2 seeded Sailors in front of nearly 3,000 spectators at a packed William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.

"Pretty much everything went our way, to be honest," said El Toro coach Don Stoll, who guided the Chargers to a fifth Division I crown and seventh section title overall. "But there's a skill factor involved. These kids are pretty talented."

The Chargers (29-3), last season's Division I runner-up to Foothill, continued to ride a wave of momentum that they created following an Oct. 16 nonleague loss at home to Corona del Mar.

Since that match, El Toro is 15-0, including a victory against top-seeded and previously undefeated Loyola in the semifinals.

"A huge wave of momentum," said Rascon, who scored a match-high five goals. "After that Corona del Mar game, we all came together as a team. We were arguing and bickering. We just didn't want it to be like last year, so we all decided we needed to be one as a unit to accomplish our goals."

Rascon and Renteria – El Toro's duo of 100-goal scorers – netted the first two goals of the match to put the Chargers up for good. Rascon scored from 6 meters on a pass from Renteria 2:08 into the first and Renteria followed about minute later with a spectacular backhanded shot from 2 meters. Renteria finished with three goals.

El Toro opened a 5-1 lead early in the second. Newport Harbor got within two later in the second and third but the Chargers had an answer each time.

In the third, it was a three-goal flurry in the final 1:43 of the period. Colton, a freshman, narrowly beat the shot clock with his long-distance strike for an 8-5 lead. After a save by Danner fueled an El Toro counterattack-goal with 1:18 left, Renteria scored from long-range with 42 seconds left for a 10-5 lead.

Newport Harbor (26-5) scored four times in the fourth but Danner continued to rack up saves. Danner, one of three sophomore starters for El Toro, finished with 16 and three assists. El Toro's faithful chanted, "MVP! MVP!", for Danner during the awards ceremony.

Newport Harbor went 2 for 9 on the man-advantage."

"Early on, I thought we had some bad luck shooting," Newport Harbor coach Jason Lynch. "(But) you've got hand it to them (El Toro). Danner played well. They played well."

Blake Kelly scored three goals and Chris Whitelegge added 13 saves for Newport Harbor.