Crescenta Valley High boys’ water polo sinks La Serna in overtime

PASADENA — Grasping a precarious one-goal lead with 29 seconds to play, Crescenta Valley High’s boys’ water polo team simply could not hold on to victory thanks to a dramatic steal and score by La Serna with but five seconds left in regulation.

But after Crescenta Valley’s Vasil Halchev pushed in a rebound of an Omar Trad shot with 45 seconds remaining in overtime, the Falcons were able to hold tight to victory, staving off the visiting Lancers, 11-10, for a nailbiting nonleague triumph Tuesday evening at Pasadena City College.

“We just kept pushing. When they scored on us, that drive just kept us going,” said Halchev, who scored a match-high six goals and added three steals. “It was a really good game.”

It was a game that featured the CIF Southern Section Division IV’s seventh-ranked Falcons (7-3) and a La Serna squad (8-6) that’s ranked fourth in Division V. The usual nonleague rivals, who were Division V foes prior to this season, provided a welcomed test.

“We’ve always tried to get these games [in nonleague play] that, win or lose, we want to grow from it,” Falcons Coach Jan Sakonju said.

Crescenta Valley got an all-around team effort highlighted by Griffin Harting and Omar Trad scoring three goals each, while goalie Logan Goddard had 13 saves, with 10 coming in the second half and the two three-minute overtime halves.

“When Logan came over after the game I thanked him for bailing us out, because he certainly did that,” Sakonju said. “He made some key saves.”

Crescenta Valley, which never led by more than a goal, went ahead, 9-8, with 1:34 remaining in regulation when Halchev took a pass from Wesley Hovanesian (three assists, two steals) and converted a beautiful spin shot.

The Falcons’ defense held on the ensuing La Serna possession and tried to play keep-away, but gave up a steal to George Mooney (one goal, one assist, match-high five steals) that he fired over to Eric Borunda (five goals), who scored with five seconds left.

With 1:12 left in the first half of OT, Trad put the Falcons up, 10-9, on a slick perimeter shot.

Once more, though, the Falcons couldn’t hold tight to their lead, as La Serna tied it with 1:58 to play in the second half of overtime.

With Crescenta Valley on a man-advantage, though, Trad let loose on a shot that was initially saved, but Halchev poked in the rebound for the match-winner.

The Falcons took a 1-0 lead at the 4:27 mark of the first period when Griffin Harting converted a five-meter shot. La Serna tied the match, which was deadlocked at 1 after the first, and scored two more to take a 3-1 advantage late in the second period.

Crescenta Valley rallied with Halchev scoring on a spin shot off a Brandon Fernandez assist with 1:25 left in the half before he scored again off a Hovanesian assist with 57 seconds to go.

“Every goal was big,” Halchev said. “Even from the start.

“The whole time we played we felt pressure from them.”

Tied at 3 at halftime, La Serna eventually matched its biggest lead at 6-4 when it scored on a five-meter shot with 5:39 to go in the third, then killed a man-advantage on a field block and, on the ensuing possession, notched another goal. True to form, the Falcons fired back, with goals from Harting and Halchev tying it before Goddard stopped a five-meter attempt.

Trad lofted in a goal at the 5:43 mark of the fourth to give the Falcons a 7-6 lead, their first since 1-0. La Serna tied it 25 seconds later, however, and had a chance to take the lead, but Goddard made a great save on a Lancers counterattack.

The Lancers inevitably took an 8-7 lead before Halchev scored the final two regulation tallies for the Falcons.

Of course it all just led to the aforementioned overtime heroics, which concluded with a last-second shot that fell into the arms of Goddard for his last save.

“I think we regained our composure, which is a big one,” Sakonju said. “These situations are going to be invaluable come playoff time.”