It sounded innocent and without undertones of a slight.
But the announcer before Wednesday night’s boys water polo clash between Huntington Beach and Los Alamitos hyped it as a matchup for second place in the Sunset League.
“I noticed, so what?” Huntington Beach coach Brian Anderson said playfully. “There are a lot of colorful commentators out there.”
Huntington Beach goalie Alex Wolf and sharp-shooting James Vlachonassios made sure the game meant much more than second place.
Wolf racked up 15 saves and Vlachonassios netted the only two goals of the fourth period as the No. 5 Oilers beat the No. 10 Griffins, 7-5, to set up a showdown for the league title next week against No. 2 Newport Harbor.
Huntington Beach (17-6, 4-0) will play at Newport Harbor (20-4, 4-0) for the Sunset crown next Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. “We can control our destiny,” Anderson said.
Wolf, a 6-foot-6 junior, blocked a penalty shot to highlight seven saves in the second period. In the third, he blocked a hard shot on the counterattack and the rebound.
And it seemed that his presence was the reason Los Alamitos’ penalty shot attempt in the third was waved off for a hesitation. The Griffins might have led, 6-5, going into the fourth had they converted that chance.
“He made some great second-effort stops that are demoralizing,” Los Alamitos coach Jeff Nesmith said.
Vlachonassios scored twice in the fourth on perimeter shots that bounced in off the cage from 8 meters.
Skyler Munatones also fired a perimeter shot in off the goal in the third period for the Oilers. Kenneth Keller scored twice in the third to help the Griffins erase a 5-2 deficit and knot the score, 5-5.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
