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Brea Olinda’s boys water polo team showcased its well-rounded and dynamic skills in the CIF-SS Division 2 semifinals Tuesday night.
The Wildcats needed all of their shooting, passing and defense to notch arguably the biggest victory in school history.
Center Gavin Templeton flipped a short pass from a double post set to Russ DiCesaris for a redirect goal with 49 seconds left in the fourth period to lift the Wildcats past Irvine 9-8 in front of a raucous crowd at Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine.
The Wildcats then held twice on defense in the final seconds to advance to the Division 2 final against Capistrano Valley at Mt. SAC on Saturday.
Brea Olinda reached Division 6 finals in 1994 and 1997 — losing to Rowland both times — so the Division 2 stage will be the grandest in school history.
“We’re stoked,” said Brea Olinda goalie Derek Maddox, who made a key block with 20 seconds left en route to 13 saves. “This is definitely a really big step for our program. It’s awesome.”
Brea Olinda (19-7) made the leap with breakout performances from seniors Maddox, Templeton and junior Kyle Franks among others.
The 6-foot-2 Maddox used his quickness to make three saves against the Irvine power play, which finished 1 for 5.
The 6-foot-4 Templeton faced a heavy drop throughout the match but countered with some quickly-released shots, including a backhander, to net a team-high four goals.
On the winning goal, he alertly found DiCesaris for the redirect to snap an 8-8 tie.
“If it’s a drop, there’s always going to be an open guy, so that’s what we’re looking for,” Templeton said. “That was a good play. That was something that we’ve worked on. … (We) work as a team.”
The extra attention Irvine spent defending Templeton created extra space on the perimeter for shooters Franks and Noah Wilkinson. Both players scored twice on outside shots.
With 54 seconds left in the third, the 6-foot-3 Franks drew a foul and fired a direct-shot from at least 7 meters in off the side post for a spectacular goal and 7-4 lead.
But for all the offensive highlights by Brea Olinda, eighth-year Wildcats coach Damian Madrigal said defense has been the critical piece for the postseason run.
“Our defense at the beginning (of the season) was very shaky,” he said. “We basically took six months to work on it.”
“We’ve worked hard to get here,” Franks added.
Irvine (20-14) recovered from three three-goal deficits — including 3-0 — to tie the score 8-8 on a counterattack goal by Isaac Rogers with 1:13 in the regulation.
In the closing sequence, UCLA commit Sam Bowman — who paced Irvine with a game-high five goals — hustled for a rebound after a save by Maddox. The play allowed Irvine to call timeout with 16 seconds left and unleash a final shot. The skip shot from the perimeter blasted off the post.
Irvine emerged in the semifinals after finishing second in the challenging Pacific Coast League. Goalie Maddox Kreil and Sean Dory joined Bowman as key seniors.
“This last month has been really positive,” Vaqueros coach Jose Cordero said.
Also in Division 3:
Capistrano Valley 13, Dos Pueblos 11: Matt Bauer scored three goals and drew three exclusions, Lucas Saman tallied three goals and four assists and Carter Nelson made 13 saves to lead the host Cougars (16-12) to their first final under coach OJ Vazquez.
In Division 1:
Mira Costa 15, Huntington Beach 7: Dusan Djordjevic, Dane Driscoll and Charlie Jones each scored three goals for the visiting Oilers (15-14), who captured Division 1 last season.
In Division 4:
Cate 16, Santa Ana 6: Isaiah Simmons had four goals and an assist as the top-seeded Saints (27-4) fell in their bid to reach their first section final.
In Division 5:
Palm Desert 10, Garden Grove 9: Drew Gilbert and Hieu Trinh each scored three goals for the visiting and top-seeded Argonauts (19-13), who narrowly missed advancing to their first section championship match.
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