SOUTHERN SECTION 4-A WATER POLO PLAYOFFS : Corona del Mar Reaches Final Again; Villa Park Next

TUSTIN —  Corona del Mar Coach John Vargas was overcome with emotion after his Sea Kings had defeated El Dorado, 7-6, on Saturday to reach the Southern Section 4-A water polo final.

“This is the best possible feeling,” he said.

The best?

“Well . . . if you want to get technical, the second best,” said Vargas, grinning.

The best would come on Wednesday, if the Sea Kings can beat Villa Park in the final. But for now, Vargas will be happy with what he’s got.

It’s the sixth consecutive season that the Sea Kings have reached the final. They have won two consecutive championships and three of the past four.

This time, though, getting there was a problem. Corona del Mar (27-3) had lost twice to El Dorado during the regular season, including the final of the California state tournament at Stanford.

In both of those games, Corona del Mar had opportunities and had failed to capitalize. This time, it was El Dorado (25-4), the No. 1 seeded team, which let chances get away.

The Sea Kings rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 4-2 halftime lead. But in the third quarter, the Golden Hawks put on the pressure.

Matt Maclear scored with less than a minute gone in the second half to cut the Sea Kings’ lead to 4-3. El Dorado then had three chances to score, but came away with nothing.

With a man advantage, the Golden Hawks worked the ball in close to Larry Felix, but his shot was blocked by goalie Rob Pike.

The Golden Hawks were again on the attack with a man advantage. This time, however, bad luck denied them.

First, Kyle Utsumi beat Pike to the left, but his shot hit the post. El Dorado got the rebound and worked the ball around to the left wing, but Jim Leonard’s shot hit the crossbar.

A few minutes later, Leonard hit the post with another shot.

The Sea Kings weathered the attacks and then scored two goals to take a 6-3 lead.

“We had our chances, we just didn’t cash them in,” El Dorado Coach John Bowman said.

And the Golden Hawks would keep getting them. In the fourth quarter, Utsumi scored two goals in 23 seconds to get El Dorado within 6-5.

The Golden Hawks had two chances to tie. The first shot, by Greg Milton, hit the post, and the second, by Maclear, was blocked by Pike.

Pike finished with 10 saves, seven in the first half.

“This was a perfect example of team defense,” Vargas said. “Everybody worked together and helped each other.”

In the teams’ first two encounters, the Sea Kings had trouble holding onto the ball against the Golden Hawk defense. Corona del Mar turned the ball over five times in the first quarter and only took one shot.

However, El Dorado led only 1-0 after the first quarter, on a goal by Maclear. The Golden Hawks missed three open shots and three others were blocked by Pike.

“Being down only one goal was a blessing,” Vargas said. “I think we were too up for this game. I told the kids to move around more, and that helped settle them down.”

Corona del Mar did, scoring four goals in the second quarter. Ryan Weir, who had four goals in the game, and Gunnar Gustafson each scored two in the quarter.

The Sea Kings then turned away the Golden Hawks in the second half.

“This is great,” Vargas said.

But not the best, technically. Not yet.

In the other 4-A semifinal:

Villa Park 8, Sunny Hills 5--The Spartans (25-4) reached the final for the first time in six years with a victory at Newport Harbor High School. Villa Park had been eliminated in the quarterfinals every year since reaching the 3-A championship game in 1982. Gavin Arroyo scored four goals, including one with 3:14 left, to give the Spartans a 7-4 lead. Villa Park led, 4-1, at halftime, but Sunny Hills (20-9) got within 4-3 in the third quarter. Gary Larson and Neal Brockmeier each had two goals for Villa Park.