The562’s coverage of water polo & swimming is sponsored by the Aquatic Capital of America Foundation.
The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer.
The Millikan Rams will look to make history on Saturday afternoon, trying to win the program’s first ever CIF championship. They’ll face Murrieta Valley–champions from the Southwestern League–at Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine at 12:20 p.m.
This veteran group of Rams has had an impressive season since being moved up to Division 2 this season, earning the top seed in this bracket. Millikan endured a grueling quarterfinal against Riverside Poly, but otherwise have cruised through these playoffs, winning their other two games by a combined score of 36-12.
The championship game will actually be a rematch from earlier in the season. Murrieta Valley beat Millikan in a tournament, 2-0, back on Jan. 26.
Following Millikan’s 15-6 semifinal win over Dana Hills on Wednesday, head coach Jose Guzman looked ahead at Murrieta Valley and what his team will have to focus on in practices leading up to the game. He alluded to the team’s offseason trip to Italy, which could help them in this rematch.
“We’ve gotta keep working on our overall strengths,” said Guzman earlier this week. “Murrieta Valley is really grabby, they fight; just like when we played the Italians–they grab, they kick, they punch. We’ve seen it, but at the same time we’re not taking them lightly. We’re gonna give it our best.”
The Nighthawks are the No. 3 seed in the D2 bracket, and are coming off an impressive 6-4 win at Downey in the semifinals, knocking off the No. 2 seed in the process. Murrieta Valley is looking for its sixth CIF title in girls’ water polo since 2007. Their last championship came in 2016, winning the D2 title over El Toro.
Saturday’s title game will be the third of the day, and is scheduled to start at 12:20 p.m.
CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for all of Saturday’s championship games.
