WEDNESDAY’S CIF BOYS WATER POLO SEMIFINALS
DIVISION 1
No. 1 seed Harvard-Westlake of Studio City (27-0) vs. No. 4 seed Corona del Mar (24-5)
Site, time: William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center, Irvine, 7 p.m.
Outlook: The Sea Kings pride themselves on peaking late but that surge has been a bit uneven in recent weeks. While the PCL champion opened a seven-goal lead at halftime against Long Beach Wilson in the quarterfinals, it held on for a 10-9 victory. The Sea Kings defeated the Bruins by four goals at the Memorial Cup. And while that Memorial Cup victory was impressive, the Sea Kings also fell to Coronado in the Northern California tournament and recently lost to Mater Dei, 14-5. But perhaps the Sea Kings have something left in the tank for the high-octane Wolverines, who they’ve been staring at as a semifinal foe for much of the season.
Harvard-Westlake defeated CdM, 22-7, in the finals of the S & R Sport tournament in mid-October. The score, however, was close at halftime with the Wolverines leading, 7-4. Harvard-Westlake isn’t talking about it but it has won 35 consecutive games. The Wolverines are paced by the best attacker in the division in Johnny Hooper and the best two centers in Ben Hallock and Raphael Raede. Ashton Jajonie paces CdM’s offense with 68 goals while GK Nigel Bress has racked up 250 saves. The Sea Kings seem to have a knack for bouncing back from tough performances but that will be tough againt a locked-in Division 1 champ.
CdM is making its first semifinal appearance since 2012 when it fell to the Monarchs, 18-9.
Albano’s predicted winner: Harvard
