Boys’ water polo: Oilers pull away to beat Corona del Mar

In a span of less than a minute, Huntington Beach High boys’ water polo senior Ethan Wojciechowski provided a boost for his team in three different ways Saturday night in the season opener against Corona del Mar.

Wojciechowski stole a pass in the closing moments of the third quarter, drawing an exclusion. He then won the sprint to open the fourth quarter, ensuring that the Oilers would stay on the power play. Then, Wojciechowski scored on the power play off teammate Matthew Robert’s assist to give his team a one-goal lead.

It was the team captain doing team captain types of things. Huntington Beach seemed to feed off the momentum, scoring two more quick goals early in the fourth quarter. They would prove to the be the difference as the host Oilers claimed an 8-5 victory against the Sea Kings in a battle of CIF Southern Section Division 1 powerhouses.

“My boys are warriors,” said Huntington Beach Coach Sasa Branisavljevic, whose team has advanced to the Division 1 semifinals each of the past two years. “They’re a fourth-quarter team, definitely. We will step up to the plate when it’s time, when it’s the most important, and you were able to see that.”

After Wojciechowski’s goal, lefty Curtis Jarvis scored cross-cage from six meters. Then Robert fed senior center Quinten Osborne for a backhand goal, and the Oilers suddenly had a 7-4 lead with 3:31 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“Not bad, especially since we have three of our boys out,” Branisavljevic said. “The boys were able to step up and pull through. I’m very proud of them. It was a good win for us. A good way to start a season, definitely.”

Branisavljevic said that junior Jacob Cavano was out sick. Senior Ryan Hurst and junior Garrett Zaan, transfers from Newport Harbor and Orange Lutheran respectively, are in the 30-day transfer sit-out period mandated by the Southern Section.

For three quarters Saturday night, CdM stayed with the Oilers. The visiting Sea Kings did more than that in the first quarter, taking a 2-0 advantage on goals from Mitchell Cooper and center Tamir Avital. But the Oilers responded, getting goals from Wojciechowski and Jarvis on the power play to tie the score at 2-2 after a quarter.

Neither team led by more than a goal again, until that surge from the Oilers to begin the fourth. Cooper tried to bring CdM back, scoring on Will Ueberroth’s assist to pull the Sea Kings within 7-5 with 2:56 remaining. But Robert iced the Oilers’ win, skipping in another goal just more than a minute later.

Avital scored three goals to lead all players, while Huntington Beach got two goals each from Wojciechowski, Robert, Osborne and Jarvis. Patrick Saunders made six saves for the Oilers.

Matt Moran made eight of his 11 saves in the second half for CdM, which returns just two starters in the senior goalie and senior utility player Will Rodosky, who was held scoreless Saturday but did have an assist and a steal.

Ueberroth had two assists and a steal for CdM, while Henry Wilde chipped in a game-high three steals and also had an assist.

“We played two bad minutes in the fourth quarter, [but] I’m super-proud of our guys,” CdM Coach Barry O’Dea said. “Our guys came out and played today. It’s the first game of a long season. I’m built for November, baby. Everybody else wants to put all the weight early in the season ... [but] would you want to see us in November [in the CIF playoffs]? You know how much we improve.

“We can go back and fix three minutes. If it was three quarters, I’d be upset. I can fix three minutes. That was a good game.”

Both coaches know the teams could meet again in two weeks at the South Coast Tournament. That was how it played out last year, when CdM lost the season opener against Huntington Beach but came back to upset the Oilers in the South Coast Tournament quarterfinals.

Huntington Beach returns to action next weekend when the Oilers compete in the inaugural “Elite Eight” tournament hosted by Harvard-Westlake. The other teams competing are Mater Dei, Agoura, Cathedral Catholic, Loyola, Miramonte and Sacred Heart Prep.

CdM’s next game is Sept. 20, when the Sea Kings face Long Beach Wilson at the Belmont Plaza outdoor pool.

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In other boys’ water polo action Saturday night, Newport Harbor improved to 2-0 with a 15-11 nonleague win at Coronado. Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt had seven goals, co-captain Cole Brosnan scored three and Jackson Westerman had a pair of goals.