Top seeds show their stuff, advance to Friday semifinals

Tournament Headquarters

LONG BEACH - The 3C2A Men's Water Polo State Championship tournament ended Thursday's opening round much as expected, at least for two teams. The top two regional seeds, SoCal No.1 Golden West and NorCal top-seed West Valley handled their No.4-seeded opponents, while the other two quarterfinals were much closer, with both contests undecided until the final quarter.

Game 1: S1 Golden West over N4 Diablo Valley 27-4 

The seven-time defending champs rushed out to a convincing 7-0 first-quarter lead that grew to 16-1 at the break. The pattern for the Rustlers (35-4) was same in the opening two quarters, and the rest of the game for that matter: apply stifling defense, steal the ball and convert at the other end.

Jose Pedro Carvalho led the Rustlers with four goals, all in the third quarter. Zeno Kormendi finished with three, followed by two each from Tomas De Luca, Antonio Doria, Goncalo Silva, Cade Winston and Jack Wright. Diablo Valley (16-18) was paced by Jackson Barnacal, who scored three of DVC's four tallies. Thomas Colpo had the other.

 Game 2: S3 Long Beach City over N2 American River 9-8 

In easily the most competitive game of the opening day, the No.3 Vikings (23-8) rode a 4-2 opening quarter to overcome the No.2 Beavers (22-10). The teams exchanged goals during tense second and third quarters and headed to the final eight minutes with LBCC holding a 7-5 advantage. That lead grew to 9-5 midway through, but it was 9-8 after three unanswered Beaver goals. The Vikings were able to run out the clock with a game of keep-away in the final minute. Sandro Pueyo led the Vikings with a game-high five goals, while keeper Diogo Checchinato recorded seven saves.  

Game 3: N1 West Valley over S4 LA Valley 18-11 

West Valley (29-5) scored the game's first four goals before four minutes had expired and then added six more in the second to grab an insurmountable 10-2 lead at the half. LA Valley (17-11) scored four straight third-quarter goals to climb to within 11-6, but the Monarchs would get no closer. The teams traded goals in the fourth until WVC, up 16-9, notched back-to-back tallies from Phil Portisch and Sy Lazzarini made it 18-9 with 3:10 to go. The Monarchs scored twice in the final two minutes to make the final score look closer than it actually was.

Portisch's stat line read five goals on seven shots, three steals, two drawn ejections and an assist. Hegedus finished with three goals and six of WVC's 13 steals. Berkecan Yalcin had a hat-trick, while Liam Rogers added a pair of goals. WVC netminder William McKeon turned in perhaps the top day-one performance between the pipes with 11 saves, including two penalty-shot stops. Armen Hovhannisyan led the Monarchs with five goals, including four consecutive spanning the third and fourth quarters. 

Game 4: S2 Orange Coast over N3 Sierra 17-12 

Day one's final contest was a barnburner. Orange Coast (22-12) held a 12-11 lead over the Wolverines (11-16) through three quarters but pulled away with a 5-1 final quarter for the win. Three consecutive OCC goals opened the fourth and gave the Pirates a 15-11 lead they would not surrender. A Sierra goal closed the gap to 15-12 with 1:29 left, but two tallies in the final minute, including a Sawyer McCormick shot at the final horn, accounted for the final score.

McCormick led the Pirates with a day-one-high eight goals, while Cade Zeilinger finished with five. Rhett Wildenradt's five led the Wolverines, followed by three each from Chris McCarron and Sean War