WATER POLO SOUTHERN SECTION 3-A DIVISION PLAYOFFS : Harvard Shots Speak Volumes in Win

Boisterous fans were packed in at the Loyola High pool where the host Cubs took on Harvard-Westlake on Wednesday in a Southern Section 3-A Division water polo quarterfinal match. They roared for every Loyola goal. They hooted down the officials--and Harvard Coach Rich Corso--at every opportunity. And they made Harvard feel less than welcome.

Harvard junior Ryan Salceda heard the crowd. And when the fourth quarter began with the score tied, he decided to make a little noise of his own.

Salceda scored two crucial goals in the period as Harvard edged Loyola, 10-9, to advance to the semifinals Friday at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach. Harvard will play Muir, a 10-9 winner over Edison, at 5:15 p.m.

In other 3-A quarterfinals, Royal (25-3) defeated Marina, 8-3, and will play top-seeded La Serna, a 4-2 winner over Fountain Valley, at Belmont Plaza at 4 p.m.

After each goal, Salceda turned to the raucous crowd and lifted his hands in the air, palms up, as if to say, “What about that, people?”

“That crowd was really effective,” said Salceda, who scored three goals. “But I just wanted to show them who we were too.”

Often, Harvard (27-3) has been labeled as a team built around junior All-American Jim Toring. But at Loyola, that perception was submerged.

Toring, who scored three goals, drew two flagrant fouls in the first quarter, putting him one foul away from ejection. Corso benched Toring until midway through the third quarter and hoped his team was as deep as he had been professing all year.

The Wolverines were up to the task. Harvard built a 6-3 lead midway through the second quarter before Loyola (25-4) rallied to take the lead with four goals.

Toring, back in the lineup, fed the ball to Luther Weidner, who scored his third and final goal to tie the score heading into the fourth quarter.

From there, the unsung heroes took over. Sophomore Rich Won, a non-starter, fired a shot past Loyola goalie Kurt Neubauer to give Harvard an 8-7 lead early in the period.

Then Salceda, on a fast break, squared off with Neubauer in a one-on-one situation. After faking twice, Salceda drew Neubauer out of position then softly lobbed a ball over him that floated in for a goal.

Loyola cut the lead to one but Salceda answered with another fast-break goal, this one a rocket past Neubauer. He then performed for the crowd. “When Toring went out, we told Salceda, ‘You’re the leader now,’ ” Corso said. “He rose to the occasion and we’ve been waiting for that all year.”

Corso even had kind words for Salceda’s extracurricular activities. “Hey, Ryan,” Corso said, grinning. “Way to taunt that crowd.”

In Royal’s victory, senior Mike Radka scored three goals and his brother Ralph, a junior goalkeeper, made 13 saves.

Jack Kocur and Luke Frazier each added two goals and Myles Bozinovski had one.