Defending Champion Wilson Outclasses Los Alamitos

IRVINE —  Long Beach Wilson, top-ranked in Division I, defeated Los Alamitos, 9-2, to win its fourth consecutive title in the Southern California Boys’ Water Polo Invitational Saturday at Heritage Aquatic Complex.

“It’s wonderful to win this contest four times in a row,” Wilson Coach Ricardo Azevedo said. “We didn’t play as well as we could have, but I’m still proud to win the title.”

Wilson, which beat rival Foothill, 10-3, in the semifinal earlier Saturday, was led by sophomore Tony Azevedo, who was named the tournament’s top player. He scored four goals. Teammate Scott Miller, a senior, had three. Jaison Robinson had 11 saves for Wilson.

The game was close for the first minute. Wilson scored first on an Azevedo penalty shot 19 seconds into the game. Tyler Wawrzynski then tied the score a minute later. But from that point on, it was all Wilson.

“On defense we looked good, but we were still a little flat on offense,” Azevedo said. “This is more like a practice game for us. We still have a lot we need to work on.”

Los Alamitos, ranked seventh in the county and third in Division II, was the surprise team of the tournament. On Friday, the Griffins beat the county’s No. 1 team, San Clemente, 5-4. Saturday, they beat No. 4 Newport Harbor, 6-3, in the semifinals.

“Our guys came to play. And I’m glad we were able to get this far,” Los Alamitos Coach Tony Martinho said. “But Long Beach Wilson . . . they’re on a different field than everybody else.”

Wawrzynski scored the Griffins’ second goal in the fourth quarter. Tom Carey had nine saves for Los Alamitos (14-4).

In the third-place game:

Foothill 5, Newport Harbor 4--Robby Arroyo, who has missed half of Foothill’s games this season because of an illness, was back in full stride Saturday as the All-American two-meter man scored the winning goal.

Arroyo’s goal came with 1 minute 48 seconds left to play, when he lobbed the ball from about two meters. Foothill goalkeeper Nick Ellis and Newport Harbor goalkeeper Jon Pharris were named top goalkeepers of the tournament.

In other tournament games:

Servite 19, Lafayette Acalanes 18 (OT)--Michael Kim scored the game-winner in sudden death for Servite (8-7).

Eric Woolery scored the tying goal with one second left in the fourth for Servite to send the game into overtime.