Huntington Beach, Newport Harbor boys’ water polo teams reach CIF Open Division title match
For the first time in more than a decade, a public school will win the top division in CIF Southern Section boys’ water polo.
Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor aren’t worried about the public vs. private school debate at this point. All the Oilers and Sailors know is that they’re one win away from the ultimate prize in the inaugural year of the Open Division.
The Surf League rivals grinded out wins Wednesday night at Woollett Aquatics Center to make that happen. First No. 3-seeded Newport Harbor outlasted No. 2 Mater Dei, 10-9. Then, in the nightcap, top-seeded Huntington Beach rallied for an 11-9 win over No. 4-seeded Studio City Harvard-Westlake, the two-time defending Division 1 champion.
Huntington Beach (23-3) will meet Newport Harbor (25-5) for the Open Division championship at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, back at Woollett. The Oilers have beaten the Sailors in two of their three previous meetings this season, including both league matchups.
Huntington Beach will be going for its first CIF title in program history, while the Sailors aim for their 13th championship but first since 2007.
“It’s going to be a crazy game,” Oilers coach Sasa Branisavljevic said. “We just know that we’ve got to bring the intensity. We want this really bad, and they do too.”
No public school has won the top division since El Toro beat Newport Harbor for the title in 2009.
The Sailors outlasted the Monarchs in Wednesday’s first semifinal. Newport Harbor opened up an 8-4 lead early in the second half on a goal by Gage Verdegaal but Mater Dei whittled that away. Mater Dei’s Vince Merk converted a penalty shot with 32 seconds left to bring the Monarchs within a goal.
After Newport Harbor dumped the ball with two seconds left, Mater Dei’s last try skipped over the cage at the buzzer.
Verdegaal, a senior left-hander, scored a team-best three goals for the Sailors. They got two goals each from juniors Ben Liechty and Finn Genc and sophomore center Peter Castillo. Genc added two field blocks on defense, and senior captain Mason Hunt also scored.
The Sailors overcame Liechty fouling out in the third quarter, and Verdegaal fouling out in the fourth quarter. Junior goalkeeper Cooper Mathisrud also played well for Newport Harbor, making 10 saves, including a five-on-six stuff at the near post in the final minute of the match. Senior center Cole Borggreve drew a couple of exclusions for the Sailors as well.
“We moved Mason to the right side [with the foul trouble], and then I put Billy Rankin and Finn on the left side and I thought they did a really good job defensively,” Sailors coach Ross Sinclair said. “Will Fosselman also did a good job ... They played different roles and I thought they adapted really well. Everyone’s a big part of the team.”
Merk led the Monarchs with four goals, while Logan McCarroll and Carter Loth scored two goals each. But it wasn’t enough to stop Newport Harbor from making its third straight section final. Newport Harbor lost to Harvard-Westlake in the 2018 and 2019 Division 1 final, while there was no playoffs last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We were just hungry,” Hunt said. “We had a good flurry of energy at the beginning, and we did what we had to do. Big goals, big shots, but most of all big defense, especially in that first half.”
The Sailors still have several players who were on the 2019 Division 1 finalist team.
“The last two [title matches] haven’t ended how we wanted, [but] third time’s the charm,” Verdegaal said. “I feel like we really have a shot of winning it this year. It would be awesome to finally close it out, especially in our senior year.”
Huntington Beach senior center James Rozolis-Hill also is motivated to bring the Oilers their first CIF championship. Rozolis-Hill scored a match-high six goals in Wednesday’s semifinal win over Harvard-Westlake, including the eventual game-winner in the final minute.
He took an entry pass from senior Matthew Morgan and scored on a backhand redirect shot from center with 37 seconds left, breaking a 9-9 tie. Rozolis-Hill said he scored on a similar play four years ago in a USA Water Polo Junior Olympics 14-and-under match, on a pass from teammate Zach Bettino.
“We practice it on and off,” said Rozolis-Hill, who also drew five exclusions and a penalty shot. “I don’t make those in practice at all, but I saw the opportunity and I just did it.”
Senior Nikola Mirkovic and Bettino, a junior left-hander, added two goals each in Wednesday’s win. Sophomore Ryder Dodd also scored, before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Senior goalkeeper Gabriel Haddad made six saves.
Harvard-Westlake took leads of 7-6, 8-7 and 9-8 in the fourth quarter, but the Oilers came back to tie the score each time. Bettino scored twice in the final frame, once on a cross-cage blast and once on a near-side goal.
“It feels good,” Bettino said. “I feel like in these type of games I’m a late-game type of shooter. It’s kind of a running joke on the team.”
Added Rozolis-Hill with a smile: “He’s a sharp-shooter.”
Huntington Beach advanced to its second CIF final, and Branisavljevic remembers the last one well. The Oilers were favored to win the 2016 Division 1 title match but lost to Orange Lutheran.
“That stung for a while and hit us hard,” Branisalvjevic said. “I know that some guys keep talking about that, so we’re definitely back for revenge ... These boys have been playing together since they were 11 years old, so I think the stage is set for us to do well. We just have to deliver.”
::
Support our sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.
For more sports stories, visit latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports or follow us on Twitter @DailyPilotSport.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
