Southern Section Water Polo : El Dorado to Defend 3-A Water Polo Title Tonight

El Dorado High School plays San Clemente tonight at 5:15 in the 3-A Southern Section water polo final at Long Beach’s Belmont Plaza Pool.

El Dorado, the defending 3-A champion, is making its third consecutive appearance in the 3-A final.

The Golden Hawks (25-4) have not lost to a 3-A opponent in two seasons. They have lost twice to 4-A finalist Corona del Mar, once to 2-A finalist Costa Mesa and once to 4-A semifinalist Newport Harbor.

El Dorado’s Mike Tillman leads the team in scoring, but El Dorado has a balanced offense with Kernit Seaton and Mike Maclear. Freshman Matt Maclear starts in goal for the Golden Hawks.

“Matt is a tremendous athlete,” said Tom Milich, El Dorado coach. “He made some mistakes earlier in the season that came from inexperience, but I don’t think that’s a factor now.”

San Clemente (20-8) is led by South Coast League most valuable player Mike Burke. Burke, a 6-foot 4-inch senior, led the Tritons in scoring.

Coach Steve Yancey thinks he has the top goalie in the 3-A in Sean Cleaver.

“I haven’t seen one better,” Yancey said. “He’s got the strongest legs I’ve seen.”

Tonight is the first meeting between the teams this season. They met twice last season, with El Dorado winning each time. A small victory for San Clemente was that it held El Dorado to fewer than 10 goals in each of those games. Those were the only times last season that a 3-A team held the Golden Hawks to fewer than 10 goals.