Surprise Scorer Lifts Servite

Mike Rustemeyer doesn’t usually show up in the scoring column for the Servite water polo team, but he was an offensive force Wednesday.

Rustemeyer, a four-year starter on defense, scored a season-high six goals to lead the Friars to a 15-12 victory over second-seeded Los Alamitos in a Division II second-round game at El Dorado High. Servite will meet University in the semifinals Saturday.

“I don’t think they expected it from me because I haven’t shot all season,” Rustemeyer said. “So they left me open.”

Rustemeyer scored the first goal of the game and added three more in the second quarter to help Servite to a 9-6 halftime lead. He said he was able to take advantage of a strong team effort on defense that allowed him to move into offensive position a little quicker than usual.

“We ran the drop defense and stopped them there,” he said. “So I didn’t have to worry about playing defense as much.”

Servite (24-6) also benefited from nine man-advantage situations, compared to three for the Griffins. The Friars, who are trying to advance to the section finals for the third consecutive season, were also awarded a four-meter penalty shot early on, which Vincent Bevins converted to erase an early 3-2 deficit.

“We got a lot of ejections, but with one team dropping and the other team pressing, that situation is going to be there,” said Servite Coach Jim Sprague. “It’s nice that we had two officials that weren’t concerned with how many ejections were being called. They were just out there calling the game.”

Los Alamitos (15-14) closed to within two goals four times in the second half, but each time the Friars answered with a goal of their own. With 2 minutes 55 seconds remaining in the game, Joe Gentner scored for the Griffins to cut the lead to 14-12, but Rustemeyer scored his third goal from outside to put the game out of reach.

Bevins contributed four goals for the Friars and Trevor Clark had three. Servite goalkeeper Mark deGrasse stopped 16 shots.

Los Alamitos was led by Eric Geoffrey with six goals.

In other Division II games:

Corona del Mar 13, Edison 9--Garrett Bowlus accounted for more than half his team’s scoring with eight goals for top-seeded Corona del Mar, who will face Laguna Beach in the semifinals.

Laguna Beach 10, Santa Margarita 8--Pat Sandys and Michael Roguly had three goals each and David Bartels made 12 saves for host Laguna Beach (21-9) in the upset of fourth-seeded Santa Margarita.

University 9, La Habra 8--Nicholas Chukiat scored three goals, including the game-winner in the fourth quarter for the Trojans (17-7).

In Division VI:

La Verne Damien 13, Brea Olinda 9 (OT)--Chris Becher had four goals for Brea Olinda (13-8).

Valencia 3, Palos Verdes Chadwick 1--Kile Baker registered 16 saves and shutout third-seeded Chadwick for three quarters as host Valencia (19-7) advanced.