Boys’ Water Polo: Costa Mesa takes down Woodbridge
It is often recited that the third time is the charm.
In its third attempt at a playoff victory under head coach Cody Serrano, Costa Mesa High needed no matter of luck at all to get the job done.
The Mustangs were ready to go from the opening sprint, and they walked away with a 13-10 victory over Woodbridge in a CIF Southern Section Division 3 boys’ water polo wild-card game at Costa Mesa High.
In conferring with school officials, Serrano believes that the win marked Costa Mesa’s first playoff victory since 2008. The Mustangs’ coach was a part of that victory, too, as a player.
Costa Mesa (22-7) advances to the main draw. Its next test will be a road game on Wednesday against second-seeded Redlands East Valley (21-4), which was the CIF-SS Divison 5 champion last year.
While the win was special for all of the Mustangs, it was especially so for a first-year player. Senior Misael Andino, a transfer from Puerto Rico, played with a flourish, and his teammates followed.
Andino recorded three goals and five assists in the win. He was playing on his birthday, and he seemed to derive as much enjoyment from setting up a score as netting a shot himself.
“We did not have a clue that we were getting a kid that genuine and nice,” Serrano said. “When you have someone that is this happy, loving his teammates, loving his coaches, it’s a pleasure to have him.”
Andino’s hands were all over the first half. He had a goal and four assists before halftime, sending the Mustangs into the break tied with Woodbridge, 6-6.
In the midst of a tight game with the Warriors (17-11), some of the more veteran Mustangs looked upon the past for motivation. Costa Mesa suffered a heart-breaking 11-10 defeat to Montebello in the first round of the 2015 playoffs. The Mustangs had led in the fourth quarter of that game.
“At halftime, I remember we kind of brought back last year,” senior Jacob Petersen said. “I think that’s kind of where the fire really started with us.”
“That fire just kind of held all the way to the end, and I’m glad that happened.”
Petersen scored two of his three goals in a third quarter that saw Costa Mesa take a 10-8 lead.
The Mustangs scored three unanswered goals to start the fourth quarter — two by Caedmon Fisher and one by Andino — building the home team’s advantage to 13-8.
Sophomore goalie Tristan Trepas had 10 saves for Costa Mesa. Grant Smith finished with 11 for Woodbridge.
Serrano lauded the play of Trepas, who is a first-year starter, despite the fact that his main sport is soccer.
“He has incredible athletic abilities, and it shows,” Serrano said of his goalie. “He still has issues knowing the game because he has less game experience. For him to be as dominant as he has in the cage for us, the team has absolutely trusted Tristan. It’s phenomenal.”
Costa Mesa quickly erased a 2-0 deficit to start the game on goals by Augustus Cunningham and Petersen. The Mustangs fed off of the inspired play of Andino and a big turnout in crowd support. They led 4-3 after the first quarter.
“I think that it was important that we got up in the beginning so that we set a good tone for the game,” Cunningham said. “We kind of got ready for the rest of the game right away.”
Cunningham was one of four Mustangs to record a hat trick. The others werer Andino, Petersen, and Fisher.
Center Kareem Mamoun had five goals for Woodbridge, and Riley Pittman had a goal and three assists.
