Esperanza Stays Calm, Collects a Title
LONG BEACH — Esperanza’s water polo team had trailed Servite before, so the Aztecs weren’t too worried.
After falling behind by three late in the second quarter, Esperanza gave up only one goal the rest of the way and came away with a 9-8 victory in the Southern Section Division II title game Wednesday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.
With the score tied, 8-8, Esperanza’s Mike Stanley scored from two meters on the first play of the fourth quarter. It was the quarter’s only goal.
Top-seeded Esperanza (21-7) won its second section title in three years. No. 2 Servite (22-7) was making its first appearance in a final since it won the 2-A title in 1982.
The game had a certain familiarity to it. Esperanza and Servite played in a regular-season finale, and the Aztecs rallied from an 8-4 second-half deficit to win, 11-9.
This time Servite took a 7-4 lead with 1 minute 30 seconds left in the second quarter on a spectacular goal by Rob Mattivi. Mattivi took a pass into two meters, made two 360-degree turns to shake his defender and put in the ball.
But Esperanza scored two quick goals on the counter attack in the last minute of the half. John Zinn scored with 33 seconds left and Stanley fired in a skip shot with 10 seconds left to make it 7-6.
Esperanza senior Jason Mericle said his team never doubted its ability to rally.
“We knew we were able to come back the last time we played them,” Mericle said. “That’s the only thing that kept us in it.”
Mericle tied the score at 3:39 of the third quarter on another counter attack, and after Mattivi gave Servite its last lead a minute later, Mericle scored again from two meters.
Servite, which averaged 17 goals its first three playoff games, couldn’t regain its offensive productivity.
Leading scorer Jerry Smith struggled under the defensive pressure of Ben Breig and didn’t score. Brian Heifferon scored three goals in the second quarter, but only got free for two shots in the second half.
Servite Coach Jim Sprague, who was coaching in his 14th section final, wasn’t pleased.
“We got the ball into scoring position; we just didn’t get the ball into the goal,” said Sprague, who led Sunny Hills to four section titles. “That’s probably the best goalie in the division, but he didn’t hurt us. We hurt ourselves.”
Peter Lange, the goalkeeper, had nine saves, including one on a close-range shot by Heifferon late in the fourth quarter.
Servite had two chances to tie the score in the last minute, but turned the ball over on a breakaway and then couldn’t get off a shot as time expired.
