Oilers count on defensive duo

Defenders don’t always get a lot of credit in boys’ water polo, and even goalies can sometimes be overlooked.

Steals and saves might not be as flashy as a sweet backhand shot, but they are vital to a team’s success.

To that end, the play of senior goalie Patrick Saunders and senior defender Ryan Hurst have been big for the Huntington Beach High boys’ water polo team. Coach Sasa Branisavljevic calls them the backbone of the defense, and it’s easy to see why.

Saunders is a two-year varsity starter in goal who has come up big several times this season for the Oilers (21-3), who are ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division 1 and clinched their third straight outright Sunset League title Wednesday night with a 17-4 win over Edison.

Saunders, a UCLA commit, made eight of his 10 saves in the first half last Saturday, when the Oilers beat Orange Lutheran, 7-3, in a key nonleague game in Division 1. The Lancers are ranked No. 3 in the division.

Saunders has been playing goalie since he started playing the sport when he was 10 years old. He credited much of his improvement to Huntington Beach assistant coach Chris Kaps.

“He’s been throwing tennis balls at me for reflexes and heavy legs,” Saunders said. “That’s what we’ve been doing recently to improve.”

Hurst was ineligible at the start of the season after transferring from Newport Harbor High as a junior. But he has shown his worth since he became eligible on Sept. 28.

“That was the longest 30 days of my life,” Hurst said of the start of the season.

Garrett Zaan, a junior center who transferred from Orange Lutheran, became eligible around the same time. The Oilers showed what they could do at full strength, winning the North vs. South Challenge tournament last month, including a victory over Mater Dei in the final. It was the first time that Huntington Beach had defeated defending Division 1 champion Mater Dei in recent years.

“We’ve been focusing on them for so long, and we lost to them so many times before that,” Saunders said. “We needed to win that. It was just like one hurdle.”

Hurst has definitely played a key role. The Cal-bound defender helped limit Orange Lutheran to no “natural” goals, as all three of the goals came on six-on-five. Hurst had fun, too, yelling out after getting a couple of field blocks.

“It’s just good to be back,” Hurst said. “It’s fun to play. It’s fun to shut down a team on defense. That’s why I love defending. Me and Pat are like one unit. We talk the whole time.”

The win over Orange Lutheran also was significant, Hurst said.

“Over the club season, every single tournament we played OLu,” he said. “It was like a joke throughout a team. Every tournament, we’d match up against OLu.”

The Oilers have a rare team, with four players already committed to Division 1 schools. Senior team captain Ethan Wojciechowski is headed to Cal, and senior center Quinten Osborne is UCLA-bound.

The program has never advanced to a CIF championship game in boys’ water polo. The quartet is aiming to change that.

“I think we’re ready,” Saunders said. “I think we can do it this year.”

HB TO CLAIM TOP SEED?

The No. 2-ranked Oilers will likely be in position to move into the top seed in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. We’ll find out when the brackets are released Saturday at 10 a.m.

Top-ranked Harvard-Westlake lost to Loyola, 6-4, on Wednesday night in a game for the Mission League title. The Wolverines have been the top-ranked team all season but would need to be seeded lower than Loyola since they didn’t win their league title.

Huntington Beach and Orange Lutheran are currently ranked Nos. 2 and 3, but appear likely to move up.

CdM CLASHES WITH MATER DEI

Corona del Mar boys’ water polo has dropped to No. 8 in Division 1, but the Sea Kings might be able to improve their CIF positioning by beating Mater Dei on Friday in both teams’ regular-season finale. The game is at 5 p.m. at CdM.

Mater Dei is ranked No. 4 in Division 1, but has already lost to CdM once this season. The Sea Kings upset the Monarchs in overtime, 9-8, in the quarterfinals of the South Coast Tournament on Sept. 23. CdM junior Mitchell Cooper scored the winning goal.