WALNUT — Brady Newman had secured position on his defender. The next thing he needed was the ball.
Logan Brown supplied a perfect entry pass to Newman, who picked up the ball with his left hand and skipped a backhanded shot into the cage for a sudden-death winner that lifted the King boys water polo team to a 10-9 overtime victory over Los Osos in the CIF Southern Section’s Division 3 championship match Saturday evening at the Mt. San Antonio College Aquatics Complex.
Newman’s winning goal delivered the program its second section championship. King also claimed the Division 3 title in 2012.
“I wanted the ball really bad in that moment,” said Newman, a junior attacker who scored three goals in the match. “I had the inside water. I fumbled the ball at first, so I just decided to go with the backhand. … I kind of surprised myself, to be honest.”
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Saturday evening was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for King (21-10). The Wolves held a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter but trailed by three goals early in the fourth period. King chipped away and tied the match with 49 seconds left in regulation.
“It took a lot of team camaraderie and sheer willpower to pull this one out,” King’s second-year coach Taryn Morales said of the fourth-quarter comeback. “My boys always seem to come together when moments mean the most. It happened again tonight.”
Pierce Stoever gave King a 9-8 lead in the opening minute of the first overtime period, but Los Osos knotted things up when Caden Rodriquez scored 37 seconds into the second overtime period. And the score remained tied at 9 when time expired.
The third overtime period in water polo is the start of sudden-death play, with the first team to score a goal emerging victorious.
King won the sprint and went on a power play, but Newman’s attempt as the shot clock was winding down was field blocked by Aidan Mattera. Los Osos had the opportunity to win, but Aegis Hseih’s shot from about 9 meters away sailed over the cage.
The Wolves ran a double post on the final possession of the match, with Newman and Gavin Starling looking to get in a position to score from 2 meters. Newman was able to spin inside of his defender, the first piece of the puzzle that led to the winning goal.
“Their goalie (Mike Hale) is extremely good and knows how to cover the cage well,” Morales said. “We knew it was probably going to take something special to beat him there. … I think Brady knew exactly where he needed to put that ball to get it done.”
King dominated the first period Saturday, with Newman getting the Wolves on the board with a goal on the opening possession of the match. Newman earned a penalty shot, and Brown converted from 5 meters away to double the lead. Newman then provided the assist on Kale Van Lierop’s goal that gave King a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead with 2:11 remaining in the opening quarter.
Starling picked two exclusions during the second quarter and headed to the bench for the final 3 minutes of the first half.
Los Osos (19-11) went on the prowl, with the defense holding King scoreless for a 12-minute stretch. Rodriquez, Mattara and Thomas Shirley each scored a goal during a 2-minute span of the second quarter to tie the score at 3. Hsieh scored with 1:17 left to halftime to give the Grizzlies the lead, and Shirley scored again in the third period to extend the advantage to 5-3.
“It’s all about the grit of this team,” Los Osos coach Thomas Vega said. “I knew they were going to keep fighting until the end.”
Shirley scored twice more during the third period, as Los Osos took a 7-5 lead into the fourth quarter. Mattera scored his second goal of the match on the opening possession of the fourth quarter to give the Grizzlies their largest advantage of the contest.
King had an answer, however. Brown got the rally started with his third goal of the night. Stoever scored with the Wolves a man up and 4 minutes left in regulation, and Newman powered a shot inside the post to tie the score with 49 seconds on the clock.
“We really wanted this for each other.” Newman said. “We were going to do everything we possibly could do to win this match.”
Hale nearly scored an improbable winner at the end of regulation. King turned the ball over with a couple of seconds remaining on the clock. Hale secured the ball and hurled it the length of the pool (25 meters). It appeared on target for a goal, but King goalie Troy Newlin reached up and got his fingers on the ball and deflected it off of the crossbar as the buzzer sounded
Newman and Brown each scored three goals to lead King’s attack. Newlin finished the match with 16 saves and five steals.
Shirley finished with a match-high five goals for Los Osos, while Hale recorded 11 saves and seven steals for the Grizzlies.
