Yesterday’s Division 1 quarterfinal games:
Westlake 17
El Segundo 14
Yucaipa 10
San Juan Hills 8
Mira Costa 15
Laguna Beach 10
Huntington Beach 11
Long Beach Wilson 10
I would imagine the Westlake Village El Segundo game would have been a great game to watch.
Wasnt there but Westlake got down and had an 11 or 12-4 run in 2nd half.
Sounds like Noah Loo was pretty dominant with 6 or 7 goals for Westlake.
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Was that game at Westlake? That pool is unacceptable.
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Noah Loo is a very good all around player. Westlake is dominated by juniors as well.
The Huntington Beach and Long Beach Wilson game was wildly entertaining with a big crowd at Westminster HS. Wilson started off slow and went down 3-0 early on. Wilson clawed their way back in the game and could have went ahead on a 5-meter, but missed.
Dusan Djordavic (good player) tossed in a miraculous lob from outside 10-meters with the shot clock winding down. Charlie Jones and junior Isaac Squires had big games as well. No real standouts for Wilson, but Gavin Simon, Keegan Abing, and Eli Vance had their moments of solid play.
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Here are my predictions for the Southern Section Open Division and Division 1 semifinal games:
Open Division
Newport Harbor by 4 over Corona del Mar. The greatest rivalry in high school water polo. CdM’s Jackson Harlan has had a great season but Newport has great coaching, great depth, and 4 of the top 14 players in the country. A difficult combination to beat.
JSerra by 3 over Oaks Christian. Gavin Conant (USC) will miss the entire season for JSerra and Porter Birdsall is no longer with the team. Otherwise, JSerra is as healthy as it has been all season. JSerra will give Newport a very good game in the finals.
Division 1
Westlake by 2 over Yucaipa.
Mira Costa by 2 over Huntington Beach.
Seems like HB is on a run compared to earlier in the season. Were they missing players over the season due to injury?
Just noticed your great name! I wasn’t aware I have a long lost brother/sister.
Most HS refs north of Universal Studios went to a completely different ref school than those south of this geographical location. Also, refs from the Bay Area are homeschooled…and I’m being nice.
Sorry if been asked above, but are the cif open division games live-streamed?
The games (except the finals) are not being streamed by CIF’s streaming partner and CIF will not allow schools to do their own live steams without paying a license fee. Total BS and something all member schools should fight back against.
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Unbelievable! Meanwhile football is probably a free for all…
CIF is doing all they can to make this sport less accessible to players and fans. Roster limits, licensing for streaming, mt. sac venue with only one stand open for spectators seating last year, to name few major recent changes!!! Who ever is making such desicions should be questioned, fired.
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Newport 14, Corona del Mar 6
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Final: JSerra 13, Oaks Christian 12
The refs North LA and above simply do not see enough high level games to get experience at that level, nor are there enough high level mentors around. Having mentors like Jim Cullingham, Bret Bernard, Gary Robinett, Bill Frady, etc is a huge difference maker. Those that came after passed down what they learned from these men.
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Amen. I always took my team to OC for tournies whenever possible for tougher games. The downside was having to re-adapt to our “home” referees.
I watched HB at Southcoast Tourney and they were inconsistent and they have been up and down all season. Against Arcadia they were in full control and then let Jaden Joemtree (UC Davis) net 8 goals I believe.
However, against LB Wilson they were sound defensively, especially in the 1st half and then got some critical stops down the stretch. They’ll have to play their best game against Mira Costa.
Mira Costa was erratic in the 1st half against Laguna, and then dominant in the 2nd half. They’ll be tough to beat due to the 1-2 punch of junior center Lucas Pearce and junior attacker Flynn Guenther.
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In the “Battle of the Bay” part 1, Jackson Harlan had 6 goals I believe. However, in the CIFSS Open Semi, I believe he was held scoreless. Juniors Mason Netzer and Kai Kaneko had a watchful eye on him and had help on post-ups. Harlan had very little wiggle room.
CDM played a solid 1st half as they were down 6-3. However, Newport–like they have all year–wore their opponent down with their stellar D /counter and blitzed to a 5-0 run to make it 11-3 heading to the 4th.
Luke Harris was outstanding with 12 saves as was junior Geoffrey Slutsky (5 goals). The talented junior Netzer (tough 2-way player) dropped in 3 goals as did stud junior Kai Kaneko. Yet another junior and arguably the most explosive attacker in the country (Connor Ohl) tossed in 2 goals.
Senior sleeper Micah Grantham dropped in two goals as did stud junior center/center defender Nathan Simoncelli. Overall, 1st year Head Coach Lucas Reynolds has done an outstanding job in his 1st year at the helm as CDM has a number of talented underclassmen coming up through the ranks.
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In arguably the best game I witnessed all season, JSerra edged Oaks Christian 13-12 in a thrilling Open Division semi game at JSerra. This back-and-forth affair had everything–standout performances, surprising heroes, game-changing calls, and stellar coaching from both benches.
This game had a terrific match up between two of the elite attackers in the country–and both are uncommitted–in Taylor Bell and Camden Kocur. Both are savvy attackers and A+ competitors with excellent outside shots. Both had hat tricks in this game.
Another senior attacker Saul Biddle–who is headed to Pepperdine–showed off his perimeter striking ability with 2-goals for Oaks.
JSerra had the edge at the center position as USC-bound Colt Bradley (4 goals) and junior Tyler Anderson (2 drawn exclusions) were the catalysts.
For Oaks, Pepperdine-bound Max Burstein had two big goals from the post and unsigned utility Jaden Winters continued his outstanding play with 2-goals.
Two junior attackers had big games as JSerra’s Connor Coleman (2-goals) and OC’s Kane Fogg (2-goals) ripped shots from the perimeter.
The key to JSerra’s victory was two unsung heroes in senior Beck Early (3 goals) and freshman Dylan Park. Without their “clutch” performances, the Lions may have been taken down.
The best junior goalie in the country Jonas Ransford (7 saves) had some timely saves down the stretch.
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