Loyola too much for El Toro in SCT final

NEWPORT BEACH - Creating scoring chances wasn't a problem for El Toro's boys water polo team Saturday in the finals of the South Coast Tournament.

Despite starting three sophomores and a freshman against Loyola of Los Angeles, the third-seeded Chargers drew eight exclusions.

The challenge was turning the chances into goals.

El Toro scored one power-play goal and couldn't catch the Cubs in the second half. Fourth-seeded Loyola made its bid for the No. 1 ranking in Division I by posting an 8-5 victory at Newport Harbor.

In the semifinals, Loyola (12-0) beat No. 1 Newport Harbor, 8-6.

The Chargers (6-1) misfired on three power-play chances in the second half that could have tied the score or drawn them within one.

"Obviously with a young team, these are things that they've got to come to grips with," El Toro coach Don Stoll said. "These are talented defensive players (we're facing) and our kids are really, really young. They'll learn."

El Toro's trek against Loyola became more daunting with the early loss of its lone senior starter, Nick Rascon. In his showdown against Nikola Vavic, Rascon picked up two fouls in the first period while guarding his teammate on the U.S. junior team. Rascon missed the final 1:58 of the first and all of the second and third periods.

The Chargers stayed close for a while but could have used more strength on the power play to answer a 3-0 run by Loyola in the third.

The first chance arrived after El Toro sophomore goalie Garrett Danner stopped Max Hurst-Mendoza on a breakaway with 3:14 left in the third. Trailing 5-4, El Toro drew an ejection on a counter but didn't convert with the extra attacker.

Loyola made El Toro pay. Vavic put away his own rebound and fellow senior Jack Plaga later stormed the cage after another save by Danner for his own rebound goal and a 7-4 lead with 1:26 left in the third.

El Toro got two tries on the man advantage in the final 58 seconds of the third. Stoll used timeouts for each but the Chargers only converted the first — on a goal by sophomore James Rude.

El Toro earned another power play early in the fourth but couldn't creep closer.

Loyola went 1 for 6 on the man advantage but was more balanced on both ends of the pool. Goalie Clayton Evans made 16 saves.

"Our focus was to play hard defense and focus on Renteria and Rascon and counter," Loyola coach Erik Healy said.

Danner highlighted a 9-3 victory against No. 2 Mater Dei in the semifinals by tying the school record with 24 saves.

The Chargers also struggled on the man-advantage against the Monarchs, going 2 for 10. But the play of Danner and the balanced scoring of Renteria, Rascon and freshman Joey Colton - three goals apiece - helped El Toro overcome its challenge with the extra defender.

Vavic, son of USC coach Jovan Vavic, scored seven goals in goals in two matches Saturday. The left-handed senior had four goals against Newport Harbor and three against El Toro.

In the third-place match:

No. 1 Newport Harbor 7, No. 2 Mater Dei 5: Chris Whitelegge made 11 saves to lead the host Sailors (7-1). Alex Wherry scored three goals for the Monarchs (6-2).

Both coaches believed their teams played better than they did in the semifinals.

Newport Harbor coach Jason Lynch said he hopes his team's loss to Loyola will spark his team. "Hopefully, that was a wake up call for my guys," Lynch said.

Monarchs coach Chris Segesman said his team didn't play smart against El Toro. Mater Dei was called for 13 ejections and had two players foul out. El Toro was whistled for five exclusions.

"We didn't played smart against El Toro and they did," Segesman said.

In the fifth-place match:

Dos Pueblos of Goleta 13, Corona del Mar 5: Max Bergeson scored two goals for the Sea Kings (6-2) in a matchup of Division I foes.

In the seventh-place match:

Villa Park 8, The Bishop's/La Jolla 7: B.J. Churnside scored a late goal on a counterattack to lead the Spartans (7-3).