SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION III WATER POLO ROUNDUP : Goalie Will Leads Trabuco Hills to Upset

Third-seeded Walnut’s offense hit a wall Wednesday, watching Trabuco Hills goalie Dan Will make a school-record 16 saves to lead the unseeded Mustangs to a 6-4 upset in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division III water polo playoffs at Trabuco Hills High School.

The Mustangs (19-10) advanced to Saturday’s semifinal match against the Santa Ynez-Santa Barbara winner.

Walnut took 27 shots, but missed on several apparently easy scoring chances.

“Both teams missed a lot of easy shots,” Trabuco Hills Coach Chris Shore said. “We were just nervous. I think trying to make the final four put a lot of pressure on us, and it took a while to settle in.”

Walnut’s offense took longer to start. After Walnut’s Jeff Julian scored to tie the score, 1-1, with 4 minutes 52 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Trabuco Hills held Walnut scoreless for the next 15:43.

Meanwhile, Trabuco Hills built a 4-1 lead, and Walnut was never able to recover.

Ryan Thacher, Jon Millers and Brian Martz each scored two goals for the Mustangs.

Martz broke the 1-1 tie by tossing a skip shot past Walnut goalie Mike Miles to make it 2-1 with 4:29 remaining in the second quarter. Thacher scored from 10 meters with 44 seconds remaining in the quarter to give Trabuco Hills a 3-1 halftime lead.

After Millers scored a third-quarter goal, Walnut’s Steve Horn scored from the hole with 1:09 remaining in the period to cut the lead to 4-2.

Walnut had a man-advantage situation in the final 35 seconds of the third quarter, but Will stopped two shots and the Mustangs preserved their 4-2 lead.

“Our goalie came to play today,” Shore said. “He was making saves I’ve never seen him make all season.”

Martz scored with 4:40 remaining, and Millers scored off K.C. Nance’s third assist of the match to make it 6-3 with 2:56 to play.

In another Division III match:

Costa Mesa 9, Goleta Dos Pueblos 7--After squandering a 3-0 first quarter lead, Costa Mesa came back from a 7-6 third-quarter deficit, including fourth-period goals by Mike Curtis and J.R. Porter, for the victory. According to Costa Mesa Coach Jason Lynch, the Mustangs adjusted their defense against Dos Pueblos, effectively shutting down Dos Pueblos’ two main scorers. The Mustangs were outscored, 4-1, in the third quarter, before coming back. Goalkeeper Chris Avitia had 14 saves and Sam Grayeli had three goals for Costa Mesa (22-8). Dos Pueblos finishes the season at 16-11.