SOCAL Claims Back to Back Titles!

SOCAL Water Polo  Foundation took the championship defeating SET by a score of 14 to 13 Friday Night at El Toro High School.  In front of a lively crowd the two teams battled back and forth all night.  SET struck first with a power play goal by Racc Julson though Socal answered right back with a snipe by Griffin Lerman. It was a back and forth affair as the  teams ended the first frame 2-2 and half at 5-5.  Socal opened the third quarter with a strong 3-0 run in under 2 minutes.  SET responded in kind with a 3-0 run in just 3 minutes.  Socal was able to end the frame on top with another Lerman snipe which proved to be the difference.  Socal opened the fourth  to lead by 2  which proved to provide the cushion n eeded. SOCAL was led in scoring by Dreason Barry with a six pack and Griffin Lerman notching in 5.  SET was led by a strong fourth quarter including goals by  Joseph Colton who had 4 for the night and Logan McConnell with a hat trick. Down by 2, Logan Chappel was able to find the net for SET  but with only 3 seconds left on the clock; it was too little too late.

SOCAL took the title in 2011 and is the first team in WPCL history to go back to back. The WPCL will be back in action starting in January 2013 with an expanded roster and more exciting play. 

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Socal	2	3	5	4	14
SET	2	3	4	4	13

Socal: Barry 6, Lerman 5, Horn 2, Frank 1

SET:    Colton 4,  McConnell, 3, Julson 3, French 1, Powell,  1 Chappell 1

The Semi Finals are in the books; the Finals are Set… and Socal !

The semifinals of the Water Polo Champions League were held on Friday night at Beckman High School in Tustin.   Set and Socal advanced and will play in the championship game Friday Night April 27^th at El Toro High School in Lake Forest at 7 PM. 

In the first game, top seeded Chawp faced off against Set.   The teams traded goals in the first with Set opening a lead and Chawp closing to one by the end of the first. Brian Bacharach (LMU) led the scoring for Chawp who ended up with 7 goals for the night.  Justin Johnson (UCLA) powered Set with four goals for the night and by half, SET had a 3 goal lead. The teams battled back and forth but Chawp was never able to get closer than 2 and Set ended up at the final buzzer by 3.

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Chawp	3	1	5	2	11
SET	4	3	5	2	14
SET	Mcleave (CSULB)  2, Johnson (UCLA)  4  Schumacher (UOP; Olympics 00) 2 French (UCSB)  2 Netherton (USC)  3 Colton (ETHS) 1
Chawp	Bacharach (LMU)  7, Natalizio (UCSB)  2 Watts (UCSB)  2

In the second game, Socal faced off against Northwood.  Socal built a slight lead through the first two frames led by the balanced play of Dan Klatt (UCI; Olympian 04) and goals by four other shooters to lead 6-4 at half.  Socal blew the doors open with an 8-1 third quarter run which was more than Northwood could absorb. Socal extended that with a 4-0 fourth quarter run to close out the game 14-11.

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Socal	2	4	8	4	18
North wood	1	3	1	0	5
Socal		Lerman (UCI) 3, Klatt (UCI; Olympics 04)  2.  Santala (USAF*) 2,  Baxter (UCI) Frank (UCI)  2,  Figueroa (UCI)  1,  Baxter (UCI)  1
Northwood		Ragosa (Concordia) 2, Snapp (Concordia) 1, Skaljac (Concordia) 1

CHAWP Closes Season with A Win and Top Seed as Playoffs Get Underway

CHAWP and Socal took home commanding wins on Friday night to close out the 2012 regular season.   In the first game, Chawp and Northwood battled tight through the first period but a fantastic outing by Brian Bacharach (LMU) for 7 goals ended with Chawp going up by 3 at half. The teams traded blows through the third with Chawp adding one to close out the game up by 4 at the final buzzer.  Danny Natalizio (UCSB) went big with 5 and Vince Makuch (LaVerne) notched a hat trick for the evening.  Greg Mayers led Concordia with 6 goals.

In the second game, Socal opened firing on all burners and never looked back.  By half time, Socal had opened a 11-3 lead and it was not until the fourth quarter that Set was able to play to a draw but it was too little too late and Socal took the game by a final score of 22-10.   Genai Kerr (UCI, US Olympic Team) played in the field and led all with 7 goals and won all his sprints.  Not bad for a goalie!   Omr Amr, (UCI/ US Olympic Team) , James Frank (UCI), Dreason Barry (UCI, US National Team), and Kyle Baxter (UCI) all scored hat tricks.  SET was led by Drew Netherton (USC) with 4 goals and Joey Fuentes (UCLA*) with 3.

Period	1	2		3		4		Total
Northwood	5	3		5		5		18
CHAWP	6	5		5		6		22
Northwood	Mayer 6
Chawp	Bacharach 7, Natalizio 5 Makuch 3
Period	1		2		3				4	Total
SET	2		1		2				5	10
SOCAL	6		5		6				5	22
SET	Netherton 4 Fuentes 3
Socal	Kerr 7, Amr 3, Barry 3, Frank 3, Baxter 3

The final standings at the end of regular season play are:

1.     Chawp

2.     Socal

3.     Northwood

4.     SET

Playoffs begin this Friday night at Beckman High School with Chawp playing SET in the first game at 6:30 PM  followed by Socal battling Northwood at 8:00 PM.  The winners will faceoff the following Friday night April 20, 2012 at El Toro High School.

See you there