The562’s coverage of Aquatic sports in Long Beach is sponsored by the Aquatic Capital of America Foundation.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
There were about a dozen times the CIF Southern Section Division 1 boys’ water polo quarterfinal between Wilson and Huntington Beach could’ve gone either way. It was a game of sliding doors, and in the end the Bruins had the door slammed in their faces.
Wilson overcame a pair of three-goal deficit and it was tied with less than two minutes to play when Huntington Beach’s Dusan Djordivic beat the shot-clock buzzer with a game-winning lob shot goal off the crossbar in an 11-10 decision on Wednesday night at Westminster High.
“You can’t go down three goals,” Wilson coach Zac Polmanteer said. “How you start a game, in most circumstances, is going to reveal itself in the final minutes. After spotting them three goals, they deserve to have a ball in lob to end the possession and end the game ultimately. You create your own luck in those circumstances. We created our own bad luck. Great shot by that guy, he’s going to talk about that show for the rest of his career. It was a sick one, and he deserves to.”
Wilson was led by Vaughn Baker’s hat trick and two goals each from Gavin Simon and Samson Casem. Bruins goalkeeper Christian Marov-Perez finished with 10 saves.
Huntington Beach got a game-high five goals from Issac Squires and two key goals from Djordivic.
“Our turnovers cost us and that seemed to be a theme of the season,” Polmanteer said. “The mistakes tend to reveal themselves at the end of the season. That’s part of sports, you live and you learn.”
The Oilers scored three times in the first four minutes, two thanks to an exclusion advantage, while the Bruins struggled to find open shots. The first quarter ended 3-0 to the designated home team.
Wilson earned an exclusion and got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter when Simon fed Enzo Brigagliano down low.
Djordivic got the three-goal cushion right back with a steal and a score of his own, but Nico Tramontano’s steal and Simon’s goal from distance cut it to 4-2 with three minutes left in the half.
Huntington Beach would score again before halftime, but goals from Simon and Keegan Abing cut the lead to 5-4 at the break.
“We struggled against their press, were slow to recognize when the center was available, and we missed some key shots that bit us in the behind,” Polmanteer said.
After a very defensive start to the third quarter, a Casem steal helped Wilson gain a man advantage, and Simon made it count at the other end to tie the game 5-5 with four minutes left in the quarter.
Huntington Beach immediately answered with an exclusion goal of its own as Squires proceeded to score three straight goals to give the Oilers a 8-5 lead with 1:47 left in the third quarter.
However, Baker quickly turned an exclusion into a goal and Casem dunked home a rebound at the buzzer to make it 8-7 Oilers headed to the fourth quarter.
Huntington Beach star Charlie Jones earned and converted a 5-meter penalty to double the lead with five minutes left, but again Casem took matters into his own hands by drawing an exclusion and scoring less than a minute later.
The Oilers got a huge 5-meter save from goalkeeper Cash Haddad a minute later, but after an impressive save Bruins goalkeeper Christian Marov-Perez fed Baker with a beautiful pass to equalize 9-9 with 2:43 left on the clock.
Squires and Baker then traded goals before Djordivic lobbed home the game-winner off the crossbar and in with a minute on the clock.
Wilson had a chance to send the game into overtime but was turned away by a field block and a steal on the last two possessions.
“I think there are a lot of highs to talk about this season,” said Polmanteer, who played six sophomores in the quarterfinal. “The only thing we can do is thank the seniors for helping us build the backbone of what I think can be a really successful program. Now we build on this in every hour of every training moving forward.”
