Estancia boys’ water polo exits playoffs after overtime thriller against Western
- Share via
GARDEN GROVE — Estancia High boys’ water polo senior Ryan Ranes had been waiting for weeks for his chance to shine again.
It was a long road back for Ranes after he broke his pinky finger on his right (shooting) hand during a tournament in September. He was cleared Wednesday to return to action, just one day before the Eagles were set to open the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs.
“This is obviously the most important game of the whole season,” Ranes said of Thursday’s match against Western. “It epitomizes the whole season, all of the work we put in all four years, especially for the seniors, even in club [water polo], swimming, all of that. Coming back was always in my mind. Right when I broke my finger, it was all about coming back for CIF and playing in this game.”
Given the circumstances, Ranes’ performance could be seen as heroic. He was all over the pool on both offense and defense and scored a season-high nine goals.
Western was just one goal better. The Pioneers edged out a 16-15 overtime win at Garden Grove High School, ending Estancia’s season.
Estancia and Western split their two meetings during the season in Coast League play, finishing tied for second. By winning the rubber match, Western (18-9) advanced to host Glendale in a Division 4 second round match on Tuesday.
Estancia’s season ended with a 12-13 record.
Second-year Estancia head coach Olivia Schwartz praised her team’s resilience, especially the senior class that went through a few different head coaches during its tenure.
“It’s been very up and down, a big roller coaster for them,” Schwartz said. “They’ve been working really hard under all of the coaches that they’ve had, and everything that all of us have taught them has been building to today. It’s the stamina, the aggressiveness, the teamwork that we see with these guys that really pushes them to the next level, and it comes from their previous coaches too. They’ve been doing a really good job.”
Junior Charlie Goan and sophomore Evan Gruebel added two goals each for Estancia, which also had junior Shane Smith and sophomore Kevin Lahut find the back of the net. Senior goalkeeper Ethan Rose came up with several big saves.
Estancia played without senior standout Davis Gruebel, who has missed the last two weeks after suffering a concussion. Schwartz called him the team’s best all-around player.
“The trainer actually cleared him for Friday, but not today,” Ranes said. “It’s unfortunate. We’re not going to make excuses, obviously, but it’s just unfortunate.”
Nathan Van Horn paced Western with five goals, and Anthony Sayavong scored four.
The Pioneers jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter, but Estancia battled back throughout the match. Still, Western had a 12-10 advantage in the final two minutes of regulation before the Eagles rallied.
First it was Goan’s goal that brought Estancia within one, then sophomore Brooks Harder found Evan Gruebel on a cross-cage goal that tied the score at 12-12 with 1:08 to play.
The match would continue into extra time, but Western came out stronger, scoring three successive goals to take a 15-12 advantage. Ranes scored all three of Estancia’s goals in the second overtime period, including the final strike on a sweep shot with just seconds remaining, but the Eagles just ran out of time.
Still, Schwartz was happy with the progress of her squad. The season came with some other highlights, including beating crosstown rival Costa Mesa in the Battle for the Bell game for the second straight year.
The Eagles fans who watched Thursday’s thriller certainly won’t forget Ranes’ will to win.
“He put in some serious work for us today,” Schwartz said. “We weren’t totally sure what to expect, considering he’s been out for so long, and he exceeded all of our expectations by far.”
