Harvard Finally Gains Rematch With La Serna

All season, La Serna High has been ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section 3-A Division in water polo while Harvard-Westlake has been ranked No. 2. Now, after three months of waiting, the teams will meet for the division championship tonight at 5:30 at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

La Serna (27-3) defeated Harvard (28-3), 10-9, in a preleague tournament.

“It’s always nice to go to the show,” Harvard Coach Rich Corso said. “It’s real satisfying and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Corso led Harvard to the 2-A championship game in 1987, and he coached the team to a 2-A championship in 1988 when La Serna was the opponent in the final.

That year, La Serna standout Brian Pyle was a freshman starter. Now a senior, he has scored 135 goals this season. La Serna Coach Tom Lozonsky said that Pyle will continue his career at either Stanford or UCLA.

“They are one-dimensional,” Corso said, referring to Pyle. “But that one dimension is very good.”

Harvard is led by junior All-American Jim Toring but has shown throughout the playoffs that it is far from a one-man team. Junior Ryan Salceda has been hot, as has sophomore goalie Peter Kiefer.

In Harvard’s 11-8 semifinal win over Muir, Kiefer made eight saves. Salceda has five goals in the team’s past two playoff matches.

La Serna is making its second consecutive trip to a final. Last year in the 3-A championship game, the Lancers lost to Riverside Poly, 9-8.