Costa Mesa Moves to Top of 2-A Division

There was a time when the Costa Mesa High School water polo team wasn’t thrilled about being demoted from the 4-A to the 2-A division of the Southern Section. That’s what happened when the school was moved from the Sea View League to the Pacific Coast League at the start of the season.

But after defeating San Luis Obispo, 11-9, to win the 2-A championship Friday afternoon in Long Beach’s Belmont Plaza Pool, the Mustangs (21-10) appeared to no longer have a problem with the change.

“There was a time when it was pretty much a stereotype thing to be down in the 2-A division,” Costa Mesa Coach Michael Conroy said. “But if people saw San Luis Obispo and ourselves, they know we can compete with the higher divisions.”

Both teams came into the championship game not having lost to a 2-A school.

By the middle of the third quarter, Costa Mesa had established a 9-4 lead and looked as if it was on its way to an easy victory. Craig Maness led the Mustangs with four goals.

But a combination of a complacent Costa Mesa offense and a revived San Luis Obispo team allowed the Tigers to close the gap to 9-7 by the end of the third quarter.

San Luis Obispo (26-6) had several other scoring opportunities in the third quarter, but outstanding defensive play by Maness and Devin Howell kept the Mustangs ahead.

Costa Mesa played short-handed for nearly two minutes after Shane Coons was ejected near the end of the third quarter. During that time, Maness blocked two shots in front of goalie Scott Taylor and Howell kept the ball out of the hole position by blocking passes and stealing the ball twice.

Michael Kennedy stole two passes late in the fourth quarter to deny San Luis Obispo.

“We got ahead but then we just got too conservative,” Conroy said. “At times, our defense was just awesome, especially Devin Howell. When the defense started to play well, it fired up the offense and made us play better.”

After Costa Mesa missed two chances to score in the first three minutes of the fourth period, San Luis Obispo drew to within one goal, 9-8, with 3:17 left.

Coons scored his only goal with 3:06 left to put Costa Mesa ahead, 10-8. Kennedy, who had three goals, gave Costa Mesa an 11-8 lead with 1:57 remaining.

Howell, Anthony Litwak and Steve Kunst also scored for Costa Mesa.

San Luis Obispo’s Scott Bauer scored the game’s final goal with five seconds left.