Harvard-Westlake Eases to Uneventful Victory

Water polo fans packed the pool at Loyola High Wednesday afternoon, many anticipating that something out of the ordinary would occur when Harvard-Westlake played Loyola in a Mission League match.

But in a slow-paced game void of exciting plays and key moments and lacking the expected controversy, the Wolverines defeated the host Cubs, 12-4.

Harvard-Westlake fans were looking for revenge on Loyola, which defeated the Wolverines, 5-4, last year--preventing Harvard-Westlake from winning at least a share of the Mission League title for the ninth straight year.

In that game, the parent of a Loyola player pushed Wolverine Coach Rich Corso into the pool.

But the Wolverines (16-1, 3-0 in league play), knowing that Loyola (5-6, 1-1) is not as strong as it was last year, had a tough time taking the Cubs seriously.

“It’s hard to get riled up for a game like this,” said goalie Brendan Connolly, who had the best game of any Harvard-Westlake player.

Loyola Coach Nick Wooler positioned three players near mid-pool at all times to prevent any easy scoring opportunities.

It didn’t work every time, but the Wolverines, ranked No. 4 in Southern Section Division I, missed several close-range shots and converted only four of nine man-advantage opportunities. Corso attributed his team’s lackadaisical attitude to looking ahead to Saturday’s game against No. 1-ranked Long Beach Wilson.

“When you have a game against Wilson coming up, you’re not thinking about a game like this,” Corso said. “(The players) are all mad because they didn’t think they played well, but they did what they had to do.”

The Wolverines, clearly superior but unable to get anything going, were ahead 4-2 at halftime and 6-2 after three quarters.

The offense finally got going in the fourth quarter when Wolverine leading scorer Phil Spataru and Billy Strickland each scored twice in a six-goal quarter.

Connolly had 15 saves and allowed only one Loyola goal with the Wolverines at full strength.

“We like to say we play one game at a time,” Connolly said, when asked if the team might have been looking ahead. “But sometimes you have to pick and choose where you put your energy.”