It’s ‘Miller Time’ in sudden death

COSTA MESA — Jimmy Miller said he felt like the Sage Hill School boys’ water polo team would beat Costa Mesa High all along.

It took longer than the Lightning would have liked, but that only made it sweeter at the end.

Miller, a junior, scored with 2:32 left in the third overtime, a sudden-death goal that lifted the Lightning to an 11-10 Orange Coast League win over the host Mustangs on Wednesday.

Sage Hill (8-4, 1-1 in league) also took the inside track in league for the second of two CIF Southern Section Division II playoff spots. Laguna Beach is the league’s frontrunner.

The Lightning were ahead most of the game, but never by more than two goals. The score was tied 8-all after regulation and 10-10 after the teams played two three-minute overtime periods.

Less than 30 seconds into the third overtime, Miller ended it when he struck from about five meters out, his fifth goal of the game.

“We had to pull the game out,” Miller said. “We weren’t finishing our shots, but we eventually capitalized and won the game. Costa Mesa is our biggest rivals to get into CIF, but I think we’ll secure the spot.”

The Mustangs (3-5, 1-1) battled back from a 3-1 halftime deficit in front of a loud home crowd, tying the score at 7-all late in the third quarter on Cody Serrano’s long goal.

But Miller’s skip shot with 1:30 left in regulation found the net, giving the Lightning the lead once again.

Costa Mesa eventually got the ball back with nine seconds left and called timeout, leaving time for one last play.

The pass from goalie Scott Neslage went to Andrew Millian, who passed it to Skyler Twohig.

Twohig’s shot with two seconds left found the corner of the net, delighting the home crowd and stunning Sage Hill.

“The play’s designed for a drive into the two-meters [area],” Mustangs Coach Robert Grayeli said. “Skyler’s the quarterback for the play, but he also has the option for the shot if the play doesn’t develop. They left Skyler wide open, and when he’s wide open, he’s dangerous. He was really our spark plug on offense.”

Twohig and Sam Edman each had three goals for Costa Mesa.

In the first overtime, the Mustangs rode the momentum and took a 9-8 lead on Edman’s goal.

“I don’t think there’s been this much excitement at our home pool since we won CIF in 1995,” said Grayeli, a member of that Costa Mesa team. “This was great.”

But, Sage Hill evened the score again when Beau Caillouette lofted a goal over Neslage’s head with 56 seconds left in the period.

Caillouette scored on a penalty shot in the second overtime to give the Lightning a 10-9 lead, but Costa Mesa two-meter player John Roche used his left hand to scoop in a close shot with 1:01 remaining.

“As time started going down, they had the crowd and they started to gain momentum,” said Caillouette, who had four goals. “Our team started to crack under pressure, and we have a young team with a lot of freshmen and a lack of experience. But I felt like the game was ours before the game even started; I felt like we should win and we did.”

The game will likely only whet both team’s appetites for the rematch, to be held Oct. 24 at Corona del Mar High, which is Sage Hill’s home pool.

“It’s definitely good to get the first win [over Costa Mesa], and now we play them at our place,” Sage Hill Coach Tom Norton said. “It’s a good matchup, because they didn’t give up either. Both teams wanted it just as much. It just came down to the final goal. It was awesome.”

Grayeli said his team would definitely be ready for the rematch in three weeks.

“That’s going to be an exciting game,” Grayeli said. “I guarantee we’ll be ready to play. It’ll be in the big [pool] at Corona del Mar, so hopefully that’ll give us an advantage with the swimming that we do.”

Neslage, Costa Mesa’s goalie, made 10 saves with aggressive play throughout. He came out several times to stop Lightning chances.

But Sage Hill goalie Danny Harold was also solid, blocking Edman’s shot in a key one-on-one sequence with under 40 seconds left in the second overtime.

Orange Coast League

Sage Hill 11, Costa Mesa 10 (3 OT)

Score by Periods

Sage Hill 3 0 4 1 1 1 1 — 11 Costa Mesa 1 0 6 1 1 1 0 — 10

Sage Hill -- Miller 5, Caillouette 4, Blitzer 1, Dorne 1. Saves -- Harold 7.

Costa Mesa -- Twohig 3, Edman 3, Roche 2, C. Serrano 2. Saves -- Neslage 10.