SOUTHERN SECTION WATER POLO : Villa Park Gets Another Chance at Corona del Mar

Jeff Ehrlich, Villa Park High school water polo coach, learned early on what a championship team looked like.

In 1974, his first season as coach, the Spartans played a nonleague match against Corona del Mar, the eventual Southern Section 4-A champions.

“The clobbered us, 27-2,” Ehrlich said. “In those days, the goalie wasn’t allowed to throw the ball past half court. In the first half, we didn’t get the ball into their side of the pool once. It was incredible.”

Ehrlich learned well and has built Villa Park into a well-respected program.

The Spartans reached three consecutive 3-A finals from 1980-82, winning the championship in 1981. Villa Park moved to the 4-A level in 1983 and has reached the quarterfinals every year since.

But one thing has eluded Ehrlich--a victory over Corona del Mar. In seven meetings, the Spartans have not won once.

Tonight, they’ll get another chance. And this time, it’s for the 4-A championship.

Villa Park meets Corona del Mar for the title at 8:45 at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach. It’s the first time in three years the teams have played each other.

The Sea Kings have played in the championship game five consecutive years and have won three of the past four titles.

Villa Park and Ehrlich will be making their first appearance in a championship game since 1982, when they lost to Tustin, 13-8.

Though Villa Park (25-4) was the second-seeded team entering the playoffs, the Spartans are underdogs to the unseeded Sea Kings.

Corona del Mar (27-3) was the No. 1-ranked team in the 4-A poll most of the season, but a late-season slump cost them the top spot entering the playoffs. The Sea Kings lost twice to El Dorado and were beaten in the Sea View League finale by Newport Habor.

In the 3-A final:

Capistrano Valley (27-1) vs. El Toro (25-5), 5:30 p.m., Belmont Plaza--This will be the rubber match between the South Coast League rivals. Capistrano Valley defeated El Toro, 9-8, in the final of the Villa Park tournament. The Chargers then defeated the Cougars in sudden-death overtime, 10-9, to win the league championship.

“This is the way everybody pictured it all year, us and Capo in the final,” El Toro Coach Don Stoll said. “They were No. 1 most of the year and we were No. 2. When we beat them, we were No. 1 and they were No. 2.

“It’s always a close game with Capo. In the last one, it was tied eight times. It had to end this way.”