Boys water polo: CdM claims early crown

Richard Dunn

CORONA DEL MAR - If the South Coast Tournament is the early-season

barometer for the CIF Southern Section’s top boys water polo teams, then

Corona del Mar High’s Sea Kings have much in store this fall for John

Vargas in his final year as the CdM coach.

“Our guys are motivated and doing a great job,” said Vargas, whose

squad (5-0) steamrolled past everyone in the South Coast Tournament,

until it faced The Bishop’s (La Jolla) in the championship game Saturday

at Newport Harbor High, where the Sea Kings earned an 8-6 victory.

For the Sea Kings, the defending CIF Division II champions and

top-ranked in Orange County, their ability to play five-man defense was

the difference in their first South Coast Tournament title since 1994.

“The mark of a good team is if it’s able to play good five-man,” said

Vargas, the former U.S. Olympic coach who will take over as head coach at

Stanford next season.

Asked if any of his current Sea Kings will be following him to Palo

Alto next year, Vargas quipped: “I’d like a few.”

The Sea Kings, who never trailed against The Bishop’s, endured 11

ejections, while their opponent had just four. Only once, however, did

The Bishop’s score on a six-on-five situation.

“Those were all legitimate ejections,” Vargas said. “So we’ve got some

stuff to work on.”

Corona del Mar was led by Bobby Messenger (three goals) and Jason Di

Rocco (two), while Mike March forced a late turnover by The Bishop’s to

set up the final series, in which the Sea Kings, with 0:32 left in the

game, could simply run out the clock.

With 0:08 to play, The Bishop’s Coach Jim Fales ordered one of his

players on the bench to jump in the pool for a foul and give CdM a

four-meter penalty shot.

“We knew we weren’t going to stop the clock, and I wanted to give our

goalkeeper (Justin McCain) a chance to block a penalty shot,” Fales said.

“It’s an old trick. The percentages aren’t too high, but we had no more

timeouts and we couldn’t stop the clock, and our kid’s a great goalie. He

blocks a lot of four-meter shots.”

The Bishop’s (4-1), expected to vie with perennial San Diego Section

power Coronado this year for that section’s title, had no defense for

CdM’s spread offensive in the waning seconds.

After Chris Pulido jumped in the pool and was whistled for illegal

player in the field of play, March scored from four meters to give the

Sea Kings their margin of victory.

CdM, which defeated Servite, 12-6, in the semifinals Saturday, built a

5-3 lead in the third quarter, its biggest advantage of the game. After

it was tied, 3-3, Messenger and Di Rocco scored from the outside for CdM,

giving Vargas’ team a two-point lead with 2:22 to play in the quarter.

“They were dropping back and we attacked from up top,” Vargas said. “I

guess you take them where you can get them.”

The Bishop’s, led by Andy Orr’s three goals, tied the game three

times, until Messenger’s goal from seven meters put the Sea Kings in

front for good with 3:42 remaining in the third quarter.

“I would love to play (the Sea Kings) again, but it’s not going to

happen” said Fales, whose team is not scheduled to compete in any of the

same tournaments as CdM. “I’m in my 14th year (as coach) and we’re still

taking one step at a time, but there was a time when we couldn’t even get

into tournaments like this ... there are not too many teams to challenge

us like these (CdM) guys.”

In the fourth quarter, The Bishop’s rallied from a 7-4 deficit to pull

within a goal with 1:05 left. And, following a major penalty on CdM, the

visitors got the ball back on a man-up advantage, but turned the ball as

March was credited with a steal.

Newport Harbor wrapped up South Coast Tournament action with losses

against Long Beach Wilson, 12-7, and San Clemente, 14-11.

SOUTH COAST TOURNAMENT

Championship

Corona del Mar 8, The Bishop’s (La Jolla) 6

The Bishop’s 1 1 2 2 - 6

Corona del Mar 2 1 2 3 - 8

The Bishop’s - Orr 3, Long 1, Pulido 1, Kandel 1. Saves - McCain 10.

Corona del Mar - Messenger 3, Di Rocco 2, Mann 1, March 1, Pantuliano

1. Saves - Kim 4, Stockstill 4.

Semifinals

Corona del Mar 12, Servite 6

CdM 3 3 3 3 - 12

Servite 1 2 1 2 - 6

CdM - Mann 3, Di Rocco 3, Dorr 2, Messenger 1, March 1, Pantuliano 1, Money 1. Saves - Kim 5, Stockstill 10.

San Clemente 14, Newport Harbor 11

Newport - Weiner 4, Sinclair 3, Vanderburg 2, Thompson 1, Armstrong 1.

Long Beach Wilson 12, Newport Harbor 7

Newport - Weiner 3, Bury 2, Schmidt 1, Sinclair.