SOUTHERN SECTION WATER POLO : Marina Goes Back to the Press to Sink Rowland

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  Marina High School shored up its defense and rallied to defeat Rowland High, 11-9, in a Southern Section 3-A water polo quarterfinal at Golden West College.

The victory earned Marina its first appearance in the water polo semifinals.

“We had changed our defense, and it worked during practice, but their guys kept scoring from the outside,” Coach Dave Pickford said. “So in the fourth quarter, we went back into the press.

“They were just shooting our lights out. Real creative on shots--a couple lobs, a couple skips--and we weren’t really expecting that.”

Marina (23-6) took a 5-3 lead in the first quarter, but in the second and third quarters, goalie Kevin Dillinbeck had trouble with the new double-drop defense and could not keep his hands on the ball; Rowland outscored the Vikings 6-3 in the two quarters.

Rowland came within a point, 6-7, in the second quarter on a shot by Peter Cordero with 22 seconds left. In the third quarter, Marina took an 8-6 lead, but three goals in three minutes put Rowland ahead, 9-8. Rowland’s Eric Vosburgh’s ejection put Marina in a six-on-five offense, and Chad Roberts scored with 19 seconds to go in the third quarter to tie the score.

Although Rowland won the sprint at the start of the fourth quarter, the Raiders were effectively stifled by Marina’s defense.

Marina’s Chuck Kenyon bounced a goal in from the left, Bob Haefner followed suit two minutes later with a lob, and a steal allowed the Vikings to spread out and stall for most of the final minute.

Haefner had a team-high five goals, and Dillinbeck used his 6-4 height to record 11 saves.

“We definitely know we didn’t underestimate Rowland,” Pickford said. “They came into a foreign situation, brought their own fans, it was like they were the home team.

“But this team is too good to not make it to the semis,” he said.

The Vikings will face Capistrano Valley in Saturday’s semifinals, which Pickford said will be a welcomed matchup. Marina lost to the Cougars, 13-12, in sudden-death overtime this season.

In other 3-A matches:

Capistrano Valley 13, Palos Verdes 8--Capistrano Valley (24-1) stopped a third-quarter charge and scored four fourth-quarter goals to defeat Palos Verdes (20-5) at El Camino College.

Capistrano Valley was led by Paul Felton, who had a match-high eight goals.

Palos Verdes outscored the Cougars, 3-1, in the third quarter to pull within 9-8 going into the fourth quarter.

Harvard 9, Mission Viejo 5--After a scoreless first quarter, Harvard (26-4) outscored Mission Viejo, 4-1, in the second and coasted to a victory at Harvard. Mission Viejo finished the season 14-10.