Water Polo Roundup : Valencia Eliminates Los Amigos, 7-4

The Valencia High School water polo team, helped by Kurt Rudolph’s three goals, defeated Los Amigos, 7-4, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section 2-A playoffs at Valencia Wednesday.

The Orange League co-champion Tigers (19-4) started off the game by missing five goals and falling behind, 1-0. But two second-quarter goals by Rudolph gave the Tigers a temporary 2-1 lead.

Later in the quarter, the Lobos, the No. 2 representatives from the Garden Grove League, battled back to tie at 2-2, but a pair of goals by Valencia’s Andy Grenier and Todd Jeffreys put the Tigers ahead for good before the half.

Tiger goalie Andy Wisniewski had 12 saves, while teammates Bill Equitz and David Barbour also scored. Barbour’s goal was the last ever in the 50-year-old pool, which is to be replaced with a modern facility over the winter.

In other 2-A water polo playoff action Wednesday:

Western 25, Garden Grove 8--Pioneer John Thatcher, the most valuable player in the Orange League, contributed nine goals at Western to set the school season scoring record of 130. Teammate Ray McMannis had eight goals as Western raised its record to 18-3. Sophomore goalie Dennis Reynolds had eight saves against the Argonauts (4-14), the third-place representatives of the Garden Grove League.

Miraleste 18, La Quinta 6--The Marauders (20-4), the Pioneer League’s second-place team, had three players with four goals each--Kyle Enright, Jarret Winter, and Richard Hynes--in the match at Rancho Palos Verdes.