Southern Section Water Polo Championships : Sunny Hills Returns a Favor in the Title Game

A year after it was supposed to happen, courtesy of a player whose varsity time this season spans all of one month, Sunny Hills High School won the 4-A Southern Section water polo title Friday in Long Beach’s Belmont Plaza Pool, beating Corona del Mar, 6-5.

Sunny Hills entered last season’s final undefeated and heavily favored. But Corona del Mar beat the Lancers in overtime, 7-6.

Friday’s loss ends Corona del Mar’s 41-game winning streak, the longest ever in the Southern Section.

Sunny Hills considered the victory poetic justice.

“Losing last year was was like getting punched in the face,” said Sean McCloskey, Sunny Hills goalie. “It was like getting punched, and then having the guy run away so you couldn’t do anything about it. It hurt.”

McCloskey’s block of Bill Harmon’s shot with 25 seconds left clinched the game for the Lancers. McCloskey had nine saves in the game.

Sunny Hills’ Jose Santiago, the 30-day star, had scored the winner with 55 seconds remaining to put the Lancers up 6-5. It was his fourth goal of the game.

Santiago and his brother, Javier, have played just the last four weeks with Sunny Hills. Natives of Puerto Rico, they had played for the Lancers last season. Their family decided they should return home this year. And they did, but apparently put up such a fuss that their parents let them return. As soon as their eligibility was cleared with the Southern Section, they were back in the swim for Sunny Hills.

“I had to get back,” Jose Santiago said. “I had a mission, to make up for the last time. I accomplished my mission tonight.”

Jose Santiago scored his first goal of the match with 4:28 left in the second quarter to cut Corona del Mar’s lead to 2-1. Then he scored again with 11 seconds left in the quarter to tie the score at 2-2.

Corona del Mar’s Chris Oeding scored the first of his three goals with 5:17 left in the third quarter to put Corona del Mar ahead, 3-2. But two goals by Sunny Hills’ Bill Slope gave the Lancers their first lead, 4-3.

Oeding tied the game again when he converted a 4-meter penalty shot with 1:45 left in the third.

The scored remained tied entering the fourth quarter. Jose Santiago scored early to put Sunny Hills up, 5-4. Then Oeding scored with 2:33 to tie the score at 5-5.

What followed for the next minute and a half was one spectacular defensive play after another. Blocks, steals, tips . . . ferocious action.

And so it fell to Jose Santiago, who was positioned a little to the right of goalie James Wagner. He received a pass and threw a shot that ricocheted off the top of the goal stand and in for the match-winner.

“This was a great game,” said Jim Sprague, Sunny Hills coach. “So was last year’s. It’s nice to come out on the right end this time.”