SOUTHERN SECTION WATER POLO PLAYOFFS : La Serna Holds Off Fountain Valley in 3-A

La Serna, the top-seeded team in Division 3-A water polo, fought off stubborn Fountain Valley for a 4-2 quarterfinal victory Wednesday at Golden West College.

Forty-five seconds into the match, Fountain Valley two-meter man Ofer Horn scored from the hole to give the Barons a 1-0 lead. But Fountain Valley did not score again for 20 minutes.

“We knew they would be tough playing in their home pool, so we wanted to take it to them early,” La Serna Coach Tom Losonsky said. “But when they scored that first goal, it was ‘Oh no, look out.’ ”

But Fountain Valley took four more shots in the first quarter, but came up empty. Fountain Valley goalie Dennis Kantanen made four saves in the first quarter to preserve the 1-0 lead.

While La Serna’s defense held Fountain Valley to a total of three shots in the second and third quarters, the Lancers’ offense kicked in gear.

La Serna built a 3-1 lead on second-quarter goals by Joe Mihalow and Tim Postiff and a third-quarter goal by Mike Duran. Then Horn gave the Barons a glimmer of hope.

Horn, the only Fountain Valley player to score, connected on a backhander at two meters with 3:46 remaining to trim the lead to 3-2.

Although Fountain Valley held La Serna’s high-scoring two-meter man Brian Pyle scoreless, Pyle set up the Lancers’ final scoring opportunity.

Pyle drew a major foul from Fountain Valley’s Chad Prior, and Duran cashed in on the man-advantage situation, scoring with 1:34 remaining. La Serna faces Royal in the semifinals Friday at Belmont Plaza.