Chasen Helps West to Water Polo Gold

Aaron Chasen of Costa Mesa started a four-goal surge in the second period that vaulted the West to a 10-9 victory and the men’s gold medal in water polo Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Festival.

The score was tied, 2-2, when Chasen scored the go-ahead goal at 5:21 of the second period.

Successive goals by Californians Greg Gamble of Atherton at 4:25, Erich Fischer of Reedley at 3:04 and Mike Doting of Costa Mesa at 2:04 gave the West a 6-2 lead.

The East rallied with four goals in the fourth period, but Chasen scored the last of his four goals with 12 seconds to play, nullifying the East’s final goal by Joe O’Brien of Goleta, Calif., with five seconds left in the game.

Fischer had three goals for the West squad. O’Brien had two goals for the East.

“Being from the West, you are expected to win, and we took a while to get our act together,” West Coach Harold Zane said. “But we came back and played with a lot of intensity. It just seemed to jell at the right time.”

David Imbernino of Newport Beach scored three goals to lead the South to an 8-7 victory over the North in the bronze medal game.