Huntington Beach's late push downs Edison

The Sunset League's strength in boys water polo was again on display Wednesday night.

No. 10 Edison and No. 4 Huntington Beach — two of the league's four Orange County Top 10-ranked squads — played to a tie in the first half.

The Oilers used a sizzling, second-half power play and strong defense to dispatch the improved Chargers, 10-4, at Newport Harbor.

Huntington Beach coach Brian Anderson said afterward that the Sunset League should be considered the strongest league in Division 1 "by far" when it comes to seeding the upcoming playoffs.

The Oilers (21-4, 3-1) converted all four of their chances with the extra attacker in the second half to break open a 3-3 tie at the half.

Huntington Beach finished 5 for 6 on the man-advantage and held Edison (15-10, 1-3) to a 1-for-5 effort with the extra attacker.

"We played good on the six-on-five and five-on-six," Anderson said. "Patient and calm. It was just like practice."

Huntington Beach has been stressing the specialty teams in practice after going 0 for 3 last week in an 11-9 loss against Newport Harbor.

Huntington Beach's Max Schultz finished with a match-high four goals while Jameson Shively added two power-play strikes.

Edison's Tony Morelli and Troy Oates fired in perimeter strikes in the first two minutes to give the Chargers an early 2-0 lead. Huntington Beach took the lead for good on a perimeter strike by Schultz less than a minute into the third.

The Oilers are tied with No. 7 Los Alamitos (16-8, 3-1) for second place in the Sunset League. The teams play next week to break the tie and determine key seeding for the playoffs.

Edison appears headed for fourth place but is eligible to receive an at-large berth to the postseason.

"We can compete," Edison coach Diggy Riley said.

In another Sunset League game:

No. 2 Newport Harbor 7, No. 7 Los Alamitos 3: Dan Stevens scored three goals and Koby Yokota made 10 saves to pace the host Sailors (18-1, 4-0), who clinched at least a share of the league title.

In the Pacific Coast League:

No. 5 Corona del Mar 14, University 7: Charlie Howarth, Ari Marks, Jake Wyatt and Ben Zepfel each scored twice as the host Sea Kings (17-5, 9-0) clinched the outright league title.

McLAREN PICKS UCLA

Newport Harbor water polo player Maddy McLaren has committed to UCLA, the senior said.

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com