U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL: ORANGE COUNTY’S DAY : LOS ANGELES 1991 : NOTEBOOK

Dan Leyson was probably the only water polo player on the West team feeling uncomfortable after it built a four-goal lead over the East in the Olympic Festival gold-medal match.

“I get scared every time we have a big lead,” Leyson said.

He had reason to be.

Leyson, of Fullerton, scored two of his three goals in the second half as the West held off an East comeback for a 10-8 victory Saturday night at Cal State Long Beach. It was the third consecutive year the West has won the gold medal in the men’s competition.

The West nearly let its lead slip away in the second half. But Leyson knew better.

“It happens a lot in this sport,” he said. “There were a lot of mental breakdowns.”

The West had pulled away from a 2-2 tie after the first quarter with consecutive goals by Leyson, Jason Likins of Corona del Mar and Greg Boyer of Laguna Beach.

Then Leyson, a former standout at Sunny Hills High, added his second goal with 4 minutes 21 seconds left in third quarter to push the West lead to 6-2.

But the East cut the deficit to 6-4 and then 7-6 early in the fourth quarter. But another goal by Leyson with 4:57 left started a 3-2 run by the West that ended the match.

The East had the ball and was trailing, 10-8, with 32 seconds left, but a shot by Russ Stryker of Lafayette, Calif., was blocked by goalie Dean Quintal of Santa Clara. The East’s Tom Tomscheck of Glenview, Ill., retrieved the ball, but his shot with 21 seconds left sailed wide.

The West then ran out the clock.

“It was getting pretty hectic there at the end,” Leyson said.

Nick Baba of Laguna Niguel added a goal for the West. Tom Hosmer of Stockton had three goals and Richard Russey of Fullerton added one for the East.

End of the road: After competing in 10 Festivals and never winning a gold medal, the East’s Scott Schulte of Montclair, N.J., is calling it quits.

“Ten is it,” he said. “I have a wife (Dana) and a kid (6-month-old Taylor Nicole) and negotiating 11 days off for this is hard enough. If this was a three-day tournament, I would do it every year.”

Schulte, 32, leaves with 10 medals (seven silver, three bronze), more than any other water polo player. He has played for the East team every year in a sport dominated by West Coast players.

South men win bronze: Irvine’s Peter Campbell scored three goals and goalie Andrew Tinseth of Fullerton had 10 saves as the South beat the North, 12-9.

San Clemente’s Greg Morris scored two of his three goals in the second half for the North, which battled back from an 8-2 halftime deficit.

North women win gold: Sandy Vessey, a physical education teacher and water polo coach at Marina High, saved the day for the North.

Vessey had 11 saves, including one in the final seconds, as the North held on for an 11-10, double-overtime victory over the East in the women’s gold-medal match.

The gold was a first for Vessey, who won silver medals in 1986 and ’87 and a bronze in 1990. A former standout at Cal State Long Beach, she recently retired from the U.S. national team.

Amber Alatorre of Indio scored four goals and Jennifer Tietz of San Clemente added two for the North.

South women win bronze: West goalie Suzanne Shriner of Newport Beach had seven saves in a losing effort as the South held on for a 6-5 victory.

The West’s Laura Baker of Fullerton, who scored two goals against the South in a pool-play match Friday, was held scoreless.