Socal takes the Champions Cup for 2011 !!

In front of a lively and partisan crowd, Socal battled CHAWP to take home the Champions Cup on Saturday night at Beckman High School in Tustin California. The two teams traded goals in the first with Thomas Kruip opening up for Socal and Marty Mathies answering back for CHAWP. CHAWP opened a 3-2 lead by the end of the first quarter. A balanced scoring attack allowed Socal to come back and lead at half 7-4. Socal opened the third quarter with the throttle on full and CHAWP could not keep up. At the end of the quarter, Socal was up 10-5 and cruised through the fourth to end the game at 12-5.
We’d like to thank all the contestants in our giveaway who had to answer various trivia questions to get a chance to take penalty shots against Olympic goalie Genai Kerr. Those who could make one out of 3 took home prizes.
Congratulations to all the teams who competed and again to Socal, for winning the Champions Cup for 2011 ! We hope to see you at next years games.

The Finals are set. SoCAL plays CHAWP for the Championship!

Here's a recap of last night's semifinals:
In the first game, United led a serious charge and gave Socal its closest game of the season but could not handle the depth of Socals roster. Dan Klatt led Socals balanced offensive and defensive play with Kerr anchoring that defense in the cage.  Socal wins 16-10 to advance to the finals. 

In the second game, SET jumped out to an early lead that at one time was four goals.  SET's Brett Mcleave racked up a natural hat trick in the first two minutes of the game.  Chawp was patient and slowly chipped away until late in the third when they surged ahead led by the attack of Mathie, Valovic and Bacharach  The two teams traded goals with Chawp ending up on top 13-12.  

The championship game is tomorrow night at 7:15 PM at Beckman High School.  See you there

Round 5. Tonight. El Toro. Be There!

Will SoCAL remain undefeated or will United put an end to their streak? Be sure to catch the action tonight at El Toro, 6:00pm! And don't miss SET's battle against CHAWP at 7:30. See you there!

SET defeated United last Saturday, 15-11!

It was back and forth in the 1st, then SET pulls together with a balanced scoring attack, outscoring United 7-3 in the 2nd period and giving them a 5 point lead at halftime.  United was able to hang on in the 3rd against SET's strong defense bringing it to a 4 point lead, but the battle continued both ways in the 4th and SET stayed on top, winning 15-11.

SoCAL's 2nd half surge too much for CHAWP

SoCAL held nothing back against United last Saturday night.  They were up by 4 going in to the 2nd half, and decided this wasn't enough.  SoCAL turned on the heat in the 3rd period; grabbing 7 goals, 4 from Ryan Bailey.  CHAWP fought hard in the 4th trying to stay alive getting in 4 goals, 2 from Trent Calder. But Bailey was on a mission netting 4 goals in the 4th bringing his team to a 20-11 victory. 

CHAWP surges in 3rd period to beat United

United’s Bret Bonanni got things started early with a goal in the first minute of their game against CHAWP last Friday night.  This early attack by United continued with 4 goals in a row in the first period, as well as 6 saves by goalie, Baron McQuin.  United was up by 2 going in to the second period, and CHAWP’s counter was enough to keep United within 2 going in to halftime.

At the start of the second half, Bonanni gets another early goal 30 seconds in to the third, and with the help of Albert Garcia adding one, United was up by 4.  Just as United got a comfortable lead, CHAWP regrouped and came out on fire, erasing the deficit by scoring 5 consecutive goals in the third period.  Their lead scorer, Travis Watts, led this massive counterattack, scoring 3 of the 5 goals giving his team a one point lead going in to the final period.  CHAWP had to fight to hang on, but with the help of Marty Matthies and Pavol Valovic each scoring a goal, CHAWP claimed the victory, 12-11.

SoCAL captures another win, beating SET 15-8

Kyle Kruip & Alex Churnside led SoCAL’s strong first period attack last Friday night, scoring 2
goals each, giving their team an early 3 point lead.  SET stepped up in the 2nd,
matching SoCAL goal for goal to keep SoCAL within 3 after the first half.  Still
going strong after halftime, SET’s lead scorer, Russell Renteria added 2 back to
back goals helping his team outscore SoCAL 3-2 in the third period, but they
were unable to match SoCAL’s surge in the 4th.  Omar Amr scored 3 of his 4 goals
in SoCAL’s 6-1 fourth period, leading his team to a 15-8 victory.

SET edges out CHAWP 9-8!

SET's Nolan McConnell (#17) with the winning goal.

(photo courtesy of Johann Onderdonk)

SoCAL dominates United 25-10 in round 2!

Ryan Bailey (#13) seals the deal in the 4th quarter with 5 goals.

(photo courtesy of Johann Onderdonk)

United and SoCal on top after first round of Champions League

The first round of the Water Polo Champions League is in the books, with United and SoCal taking wins.  Friday night was cold and rainy, but that didn't stop about a hundred fans from coming out and supporting their favorite players, including Olympians Ryan Bailey, Chris Segesman, Brad Schumacher, Genai Kerr, and Omar Amr.

SET came out strong in the first quarter with a balanced scoring attack for an early 4-2 lead.  Logan Powell (UCLA) led the 2nd quarter with 2 goals followed by a goal from Racc Julson (SEALS) giving SET a 4 point lead at half-time.  But United battled back in the 3rd quarter, outscoring SET 6-1. Krsto Sbutega (UCLA) was the lead scorer in the 3rd for United with 3 goals.  It was back and forth in the 4th, but United held on with their strong counter attack led by Chris Segesman (Olympic Team, CSULB) to take the 12-11 win.

SoCal came out swinging at the start of their game against CHAWP, and they never looked back.  Led by high scorer, Ryan Bailey (Olympic Team, UCI) who had 6 goals, SoCal secured a 10-4 lead going in to the 3rd quarter.  UCLA recruit Paul Reynolds had an impressive outing with 4 goals for the evening. CHAWP rallied in the 4th quarter, outscoring SoCal 5-1, but ran out of time leaving SoCal with a 15-11 victory. Trent Calder (CAL) was CHAWP’s go to guy for the night netting 4 goals for the game.

More Champions League action is coming your way this Friday night at Beckman High School in Irvine.  The first game starts at 6pm. 

Friday Night Lights (& rain)

We had a great turnout on Friday night! Thanks to everyone who came out and braved the cold and rainy conditions to support the Champions League.
If you missed it, United and SoCal came out on top! Stay tuned for game highlights...

1st Round Begins TONIGHT!

Don't miss out on the first round of games tonight at El Toro HS! First game starts at 6:00pm. See you there!

SET                                   vs                                                United                                   
1    Rick Wright                                              1   Steven MacKenzie
2    Alex Young                                              2   Nathan Allard
3    Racc Julson                                             3   Kevin Oliveira
4    Drew Netherton                                        4   Albert Garcia
5    Chris French                                             5   Kent Inoue     
6    Andy Skora                                              6   Chris Segesman
7    Bradley Schumacher                               7   Trevor Wawrzynski  
8    Logan Powell                                            8   Bret Bonanni  
9    Josh Hewko                                              9   James Walter
10  Jonathan Hewko                                      10   Anthony Daboub
11   Trevor Rodin                                            11   Anthony Martin
12   Greg Zaccaro                                         12   Krsto Sbutega
13   Ethan Damato                                         13   McQuin Baron
14   Joey Colton                                             14   Gabriel Goncalves
15   James Rude  
16   Joey Fuentes    
17    Derek Cousineasu

SoCal                                    vs                           CHAWP                                  
1   Genai Kerr                                                   1   German Lopez
1    Matt Johnson                                              1A Colby Snider
1    Chris Whitelegge                                        2   Michelle Valovic
2    Omar Amr                                                   3  Jose Reyes
3    Brandon Johnson                                        4   Travis Watts  
4    Ofer Horn                                                    5   Pavol Valovic
5    Griffin Lerman                                             6   Brian Bacharach      
6    Kyle Baxter                                                  7   Mikey Robinson  
7    Paul Reynolds                                             8   Danny Natalizio
8    Luke MacLellan                                          9   John Nichols
9    Daniel Klatt                                                10  Terry Zikov
10  Austin Ringheim                                         11  Marty Matthies
11   Douglas Coffman                                      12  Brent Troutman
12   Kyle Kruip                                                  13  Trent Calder
13   Ryan Bailey                                               14  Doug Marriott
14   Chris Swieca                                              15  Vincent Makuch
15   Philip Rosenbaum                                      16  Shane Troutman