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Long Beach Wilson defeated Mater Dei's top-ranked boys water polo team, 8-7, in a nonleague match Tuesday at the temporary pool at Belmont Plaza.
Long Beach Wilson defeated Mater Dei’s top-ranked boys water polo team, 8-7, in a nonleague match Tuesday at the temporary pool at Belmont Plaza.
Dan Albano. Sports HS Reporter.

// MORE INFORMATION: Staff Mug Shot taken August 26, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.

LONG BEACH – Mater Dei’s boys water polo team caught Long Beach Wilson once in the fourth period Tuesday but couldn’t do it twice and it resulted in the biggest upset of the season.

The Monarchs, ranked No. 1 in Orange County and No. 2 in CIF-SS Division 1 behind reigning champion Harvard-Westlake of Studio City, failed to convert on two power-play chances in the final 1:39 of the fourth and fell to the host Bruins, 8-7, in the temporary pool at Belmont Plaza.

Mater Dei’s two chances with the extra attacker arrived after Wilson’s Jake Gulian snapped a 7-7 tie with a rebound-goal in front of the Mater Dei net with 2:09 left.

The Monarchs (11-2) managed one final shot after a steal and timeout with one second left, but their cross-cage attempt from 7 meters sailed past the goal.

Wilson (7-4) is ranked eighth in Division 1 after finishing 16th at the South Coast Tournament, a top tournament won by Mater Dei.

“(I’m) a little bit surprised (with the victory), but I knew this team could do it,” said Bruins first-year coach Jeff Nesmith, a former coach at Los Alamitos.

“(I’m) surprised maybe that it happened in the way it did. We usually win shootout games. We score a lot more goals. This was kind of a defensive effort.”

Wilson never trailed and led, 7-4, going into the fourth. But Mater Dei’s Connor Talleur netted the first three goals of the fourth on perimeter shots, including a spectacular shot from the point that fired in off the bottom of the crossbar.

But Gulian’s winning goal marked the second time the Bruins worked for a score around the Mater Dei net.

The Monarchs finished 2 for 6 on the power play. Wilson ended 1 for 4 along with a penalty conversion.

Zach D’Sa, who played with Newport Harbor during the summer, netted a game-high three goals for Wilson while Grant LaBounty added two.

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com