Loyola ends Huntington Beach's breakout season
Huntington Beach's breakout season as a Division 1 boys water polo contender ended Saturday night under the heavy pressure from Loyola of Los Angeles.
Trenton Ross scored five second-half goals and Chancellor Ramirez netted a match-high six goals to lead the fourth-seeded Cubs past the Oilers, 15-11, in a CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinal at Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach.
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Loyola (19-9) makes its third consecutive Division 1 semifinal appearance when it plays top-seeded and defending champion Mater Dei (29-0) on Wednesday night. The teams play at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center at 7.
Huntington Beach (24-6) never led during its bid to reach the semifinals for the first time since 1958.
"We've just put it together in the last couple years, finally," Huntington Beach coach Brian Anderson said his program.
"(Our) guys are setting a precedent for our future and that's important. We didn't play well very today. Unfortunately, we didn't play very much defense."
Ross has been slowed most of the season by a back injury but was a key contributor.
After Huntington Beach's John Lovat scored from center to cut the Cubs' lead to 8-7 with 2:29 left in the third, Ross popped free at center. The senior scored off a pass by Jamie Kuprenas and the Cubs had the spark they needed.
Early in the fourth, Ross scored back-to-back goals to extend Loyola's lead to 13-8.
Loyola's press disrupted Huntington Beach's offense. The Oilers finished 6 for 8 on the power play but didn't establish a consistent 2-meter attack.
Loyola coach Erik Healy said defense was his team's main focus. The Oilers had scored 14 and 18 goals against the Cubs in two previous matches this season (the teams split the games).
"We weren't going to make offense a priority when they have as many offensive weapons as they have," Healy said of the Oilers.
Xander Swain helped spark Loyola's defense with four steals.
Max Schultz and Jovan Jeremic each scored three goals for Huntington Beach.
Mater Dei and Loyola will meet for the fourth time this season. The Monarchs' average margin of victory in the matches was 12 goals.
"It's a new season - we're excited," Healy said. "We expect to be successful, as always."
In other Division 1 quarterfinals:
Mater Dei 14, Dana Hills 3: Jon Walters scored four goals at Capistrano Valley as the No. 1 Monarchs (29-0) set the Southern Section and county record for most consecutive victories with No. 46.
El Toro 14, Los Alamitos 7: Joey Colton and Joey Fuentes each scored five goals at Newport Harbor to lead the Chargers (27-3) to a sixth consecutive Division 1 semifinal. El Toro plays Newport Harbor at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Woollett.
Newport Harbor 9, Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood 3: Curtis Fink scored three goals to lead the host Sailors (25-1) past Coach Robert Lynn's former team.
