By Casey Sublette
Staff Writer
After beating El Segundo in the CIF playoffs, the boys water polo team was hoping to get revenge on Laguna Beach.
The Mustangs were defeated by the Laguna Beach Breakers 7-19 in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs on November 12.
“We prepared well for it,” Coach Jon Reichart said. “We had some good practices but Laguna played really well.”
Two straight misses from both teams started off the first period before Laguna scored. Senior goalie Matt Grollman then made two back-to-back saves before Laguna scored three straight goals.
The second period began with another Laguna goal putting Costa in a 0-5 hole. Junior Sam Siltanen answered back with Costa’s first goal of the game. The goal was not enough to stop the Breakers who scored 5 straight goals ending the half at a score of 1-10.
After a one-sided game during the first half, senior Justin Pratt blocked a shot, which led to a senior Matt Thornton goal. Laguna scored twice following the goal before Thornton scored again. Senior Josh Huttinger also scored but was then ejected from the game after numerous penalties. The period ended with three more scores from Laguna.
Grollman made a save to start the third period. Laguna scored but Thornton scored immediately after. Senior Dylan Colbert ended the final period with a block then a goal after he got the goal ejected making the score 9-17.
Thornton led the Mustangs with four goals, showing his true captainship.
“It is a tough loss in CIF,” Thornton said. “We had a rewarding season with some good games. I wanted to end my final game as hard as I could.”
Their season is now over after many exciting games. The Mustangs started off their season losing 3-7 to Santa Barbara. One of their most exciting games was played against Capistrano Valley, which went into triple overtime and ended in an 8-7 victory. The team did not start so hot though losing a couple games, including the first against Laguna 8-18.
“We started off slow,” Pratt said. “We weren’t getting pumped for the games. We started peaking toward the end of the season when we played all these D1 schools.”
The Mustangs started to pull it all together when they faced the Damien Spartans upsetting them 10-8. They then entered Bay League playing teams such as Peninsula, Palos Verdes, and Redondo and finishing with a record of 4-2 and 15-14 overall.
“As a senior, it made me finally feel like a leader on the team among teammates,” Colbert said. “I’m not too sad we lost I just wish I had more time with my teammates.”
Costa entered into CIF facing El Segundo, who the Mustangs defeated 10-7. However, their CIF run and season ended at the Laguna game.
“It was a tough season,” Reichart said. “We lost a lost of seniors from the previous year. There was a lot of inexperience on the team but everyone did a great job especially toward the end of the season. We have a lot of players coming back next year so we will be alright.”
[nggallery id = 15]
Leave a Reply