El Toro makes strong case for higher seed

LAKE FOREST - El Toro’s boys water polo team certainly looked worthy Saturday afternoon of the playoff seeding it desires.

Whether the Chargers receive that coveted No. 3 seed in Division 1 won’t be known until Sunday, but they still delivered a decisive result against Loyola of Los Angeles.

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OCVarsity Hot Shots: El Toro vs. Loyola

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Joey Fuentes, Joey Colton, Zach Nelson and Eric Silcock had strong offensive games and goalie Garrett Danner made 11 saves as El Toro defeated the visiting Cubs, 14-8, in a nonleague match.

El Toro (25-3) entered the match ranked fourth in Division 1, one spot behind Loyola (17-9).

The Cubs jumped over the Chargers in the rankings this week, a move that drew the ire of El Toro coach Don Stoll. The veteran coach said his team deserved to be No. 3 despite a loss to the Cubs in the quarterfinals of the South Coast Tournament on Sept. 23.

Stoll cited El Toro’s body of work this season and its play entering the playoffs. Since that Sept. 23 defeat, El Toro’s only losses came against No. 1 Mater Dei and No. 2 Newport Harbor.

On Saturday, Fuentes scored the Chargers’ first four goals, including one off a foul that gave El Toro its first lead, 4-3, with 3:09 left in the first half.

Nelson then scored twice in the first 1:08 of the third period as El Toro opened a 6-3 lead. The Chargers converted three man-advantage chances in the third to take a 9-5 lead into the fourth.

The seeding debate also features a time element. The CIF-SS said Friday that the results of the El Toro-Loyola match wouldn’t be considered because it was played after the 9 a.m. Saturday deadline for playoff entries.

Stoll believes his team will be seeded third when the pairings are released Sunday at 11 a.m.

“I think they (CIF) are going to do the right thing,” Stoll said.

CIF advisory committee member Blake Corbin of Laguna Hills said in an e-mail that his committee would be taking a deeper look at the El Toro-Loyola debate.

“I expect we’ll go third unless something changes,” Loyola coach Erik Healy said. “We’ll see.”

The No. 3 seed is desired because it places a contender on the opposite of the bracket of Mater Dei (27-0).