CdM boys’ water polo throws ‘block party’ to advance to Open Division semifinals
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RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — The Corona del Mar High boys’ water polo team came out fired up for Wednesday night’s CIF Southern Section Open Division playoff showdown at Santa Margarita.
That energy extended into the fourth quarter, with one big sequence.
CdM junior Will Weir field blocked one shot, then junior Brody Rauth field blocked another. The third Santa Margarita shot was saved by senior goalkeeper Ben Kubichek, who fired the ball down the pool to senior Sam Macias for a counterattack goal.
“Three blocks in a row, then to counter for a goal?” Weir said after the game. “You can’t get any better than that. It just really sets the tone. Even though that was late in the game, it just crushes the other team’s spirit.”
The No. 3-seeded Sea Kings earned a 13-11 win over the No. 2 Eagles to win Pool B.
Corona del Mar (23-5) advances directly to the Open Division semifinals, which will be played Nov. 12 at Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine. The opponent will be either Santa Margarita again or Oaks Christian; those two teams play a crossover match on Saturday.
“We’re excited that we get a little bit more time to prep,” said second-year CdM head coach Lucas Reynolds, who also assisted at his alma mater for several years before becoming the head coach. “I worked with [former head coach] Kareem Captan for a long time, and he always used to say,’‘If you work hard earlier, you get rewarded later.’ I feel like this is a reward for us, because we get some more time for our preparation. But we need to be prepared … we’ve got to stay vigilant.”
CdM has advanced to the Open Division semifinals for the second straight season. Weir, who has been a quickly emerging junior this year for the Sea Kings, led them Wednesday night with five goals.
The defense was also noteworthy. Kubichek made 12 saves and the Sea Kings combined for seven field blocks as a team in their first meeting this season with Santa Margarita (25-4).
Several CdM players took the task of 2-meter defense, including senior center Nathan Simoncelli, who also scored two goals and drew four exclusions.
“It’s easy to feed off a goalie like Ben, when he gets really energetic in the cage,” Simoncelli said. “That makes blocking a whole lot more fun, when you’ve got someone behind you like that.”
Corona del Mar led 3-1 after the first quarter, opening up to a 6-1 advantage midway through the second when Macias drew a counterattack penalty shot that junior Koosha Mirrafati put away.
“I think the kids were really committed to the preparation that we put in,” Reynolds said. “I felt like we just really controlled the entire first quarter. They stuck to the game plan, specifically defensively.”
Mirrafati scored three goals and senior co-captains Grant Christian and Cooper Harlan, both of whom fouled out in the fourth quarter, added one goal each.
Santa Margarita tried to surge in the final frame. The Eagles, led by Evan Wu with five goals and Tannor Bachhuber with four, pulled within two goals on a backhand from center by Logan McGann early in the fourth quarter.
But CdM responded with Simoncelli’s power-play strike, a rebound goal from Christian and Macias’ counterattack goal to take command again. The latter goal boosted the lead to 12-7.
“We were just super-excited coming in here,” Weir said. “We were all gathered around together before the game, getting each other hyped. I feel like our warmup was the best it’s ever been. It’s a playoff atmosphere, and you’ve just got to do whatever you need to do to get the win.”
In another Open Division match:
JSerra 14, Laguna Beach 6: Max Sauers and Gavin Goode each scored twice for Laguna Beach (24-9), which was eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday.
The Pacific Coast League champion Breakers, who set a regular-season program wins record this year, finished fourth in the four-team Pool A.
