Boys water polo: Eagles rise in the clutch

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - Estancia High Coach John Carpenter described his boys

water polo team’s situation as gut-check time before and during the

Eagles’ heated matchup at Pacific Coast League and crosstown rival Costa

Mesa Wednesday.

When the Eagles were down, 7-4, with 5:50 remaining in the third

period, Carpenter again asked his players, “What are you made of?” And

Estancia responded with a 4-0 run for an 8-7 come-from-behind victory.

The Eagles earned their second straight win over their rivals in as

many years. The Mustangs had won 12 in a row, previously.

“Those last two quarters, we tightened up,” Carpenter said. “We shut

down their counterattack. (Estancia) didn’t give up.”

With 4:23 remaining in the third, Estancia (2-10, 1-2 in the PCL) took

advantage of its six-on-five. Jess Hellmich, who scored three goals, fed

a pass to Paul Collier, who put in his lone goal, cutting the deficit to

7-5.

Eighty seconds later, after Estancia goalie Joey Lindquist slapped

away a Mesa shot, Hellmich broke out on a counterattack and finished with

a goal. Hellmich then duplicated those efforts on a similar counterattack

and scored on a breakaway, tying the score at 7 with 1:19 remaining in

the third.

Cliff Glacy, who also scored three goals for the Eagles, threw in the

decisive goal. With 5:08 remaining, Estancia earned a six-on-five and

from the left corner, and Glacy took care of business.

John Bates and Paul Collier scored one goal each for the Eagles, while

Costa Mesa’s Jeff Collett notched a game-high five goals, and Matt

Grubisich and Chasen Marshall added one each.

The Eagles depended on defensive heroics to eke out the win down the

stretch.

Costa Mesa (5-12, 0-3) drew its own six-on-five, with 3:45 left in the

game, but Collier came up with an opportune steal. Later, Lindquist came

to the rescue and stopped a shot on a one-on-one with Mesa freshman Adam

Douglas.

Lindquist then recorded three crucial saves, capping a clutch, 10-save

performance. Mustangs senior Mike Gardiner fired a shot with no time

remaining, but Lindquist stretched and caught the ball to end the game.

“(Lindquist) had some clutch saves at the end,” Carpenter said of the

junior goalie. “It’s just fun to be in a one-goal (differential) game.

Every strategy and everything you do hinges on (execution) and trying to

win. It was fun.”

The crosstown rivalry of the two schools was evident throughout.

Estancia opened the game with a 3-1 lead, but the Mustangs answered with

a 4-1 run before the half. It appeared as if Mesa was about to run away

with the game after Grubisich scored for the 7-4 lead. Collett, the Mesa

senior, started the play that led to Grubisich’s score. He came up with a

steal and passed to Douglas, who found Grubisich.

“There was a momentum shift,” Costa Mesa Coach Bob Shupp said. “We

went up by three points but we couldn’t score again. We had a number of

opportunities but we we couldn’t convert. Estancia played a better second

half than its first. It was a matter of we got tired or (the Eagles)

improved their counter defense. We’re breaking down when it’s critical

and that’s a reflection of our inexperience.”

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Estancia 8, Costa Mesa 7

Estancia 3 1 3 1 - 8

Costa Mesa 2 3 2 0 - 7

E - Hellmich 3, Glacy 3, Bates 1, Collier 1. Saves - Lindquist 10.

CM - Collett 5, Grubisich 1, Marshall 1. Saves - Tipton 9.