SOUTH COAST WATER POLO TOURNAMENT : Corona del Mar’s Weir Rules the Waves

NEWPORT BEACH â€”  Ryan Weir made the South Coast water polo tournament his personal crusade.

The Corona del Mar High School Sea Kings, who have won four of the past five and three consecutive Southern Section 4-A Division championships, were not expected to be the team to beat this year.

But Weir led Corona del Mar to an 8-6 victory over El Dorado in the final of the South Coast tournament Saturday at Newport Harbor High School. It’s clear the Sea Kings are not about to be dethroned easily.

“Personally, I felt I had something to prove,� Weir said. “Capistrano Valley and El Toro had been getting a lot of press and I think we’re still a great team.�

It was not only the media that overlooked the Sea Kings: The Orange County Coaches Assn. and the Southern Section polls picked Capistrano Valley to become the top team in 4-A.

Capistrano Valley lost to El Toro last week in Villa Park tournament final. Corona del Mar then took over the top spot in both polls.

Weir’s three goals within four minutes 36 seconds of the second half turned Saturday’s close game into a rout.

Corona del Mar led, 3-2, until Weir scored three of the Sea Kings’ next four goals. Weir had four goals and one assist in the final.

First, he whipped a no-look back-hand shot with 4:24 left in the third quarter. El Dorado turned the ball over on the next series and Weir beat his man on the counter-attack for an easy one-on-one goal against the goalie Eric Loe with 1:22 left in the third quarter.

Weir won the fourth-quarter sprint, slid by his man and scored just 12 seconds into the fourth period, making the score 7-2.

“I’ll tell you the truth, that whole third quarter and part of fourth was like a blur to me,� El Dorado Assistant Coach John Kolias said.