Villa Park Wins Title in Water Polo

T.J. Matijevich scored the go-ahead goal with 4:13 remaining to lift Villa Park past Simi Valley Royal, 6-5, in the championship game of the Villa Park water polo tournament Saturday.

Orange County’s second-ranked team reached the title game by beating La Jolla The Bishop’s, 11-9, in the semifinal match.

Matijevich scored eight goals in the two games, but goalkeeper Jared Jones earned most valuable player honors by stopping 15 shots in the final two contests. Villa Park is 11-2; The Bishop’s 10-1. Royal (13-2) is No. 1 in the Southern Section Division IV polls.

In the Coronado boys’ water polo tournament:

Coronado 8, No. 4 Foothill 5--Wes Fox and Brian Alexander scored twice for Foothill in the championship game, but the Knights were outscored, 5-2, in the second half. Foothill advanced to the championship by beating Fresno Buchanan, 7-6, as Fox scored four goals and Ian Elliott made 11 saves.

In nonconference water polo:

No. 3 Newport Harbor 16, University 10--The Sailors (6-3) scored seven goals in the final eight minutes. Tied, 9-9, Newport Harbor took the lead on consecutive goals by Ryan Cook (seven goals), Peter Belden and Caine Littrell.

At the Stanford Invitational cross-country meet:

Newport Harbor wins team title--The Sailor boys’ team won the Division II title. Chris McMillen finished sixth in 16 minutes 28 seconds on the three-mile course. The Mission Viejo boys finished fourth in Division I, led by Jacob Gustafson in 26th (17:05) and Dan Fogel in 27th (17:06). Edison’s Scott Brandos was the top county finisher, placing 15th in 16:44.

Corona del Mar, the top-ranked girls’ team in the Division IV state rankings, finished fourth in the Division I race and Foothill was second in Division II. Santa Margarita senior Lori Mann finished second in Division II (18:54).