Corona del Mar Comes Back to Earth in Water Polo Loss to Harvard-Westlake

LONG BEACH — North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake defeated Corona del Mar, 10-7, in a Southern Section Division I water polo semifinal Friday at Belmont Plaza Pool.

Corona del Mar, which defied expectations by beating second-seeded Capistrano Valley Tuesday, found Harvard’s rough inside play more than it could handle.

“They played a pretty physical game and we didn’t step up to it,” Corona del Mar Coach John Vargas said. “We’re capable of stepping up, but today we didn’t.”

The Sea Kings (19-9) made some progress, however. Earlier this season, Harvard beat the Sea Kings, 12-6, at the North Orange County Tournament.

After trailing by as many as three goals, Corona del Mar cut the Harvard lead to one twice in the second half.

Tom Norton’s goal with 4 minutes 48 second left in the fourth quarter made it 8-7 Harvard. But Harvard (28-2), which won the Division 3-A title last season, shut down the Sea Kings the rest of the way and scored two more goals.

Jim Toring scored a match-high six goals for Harvard. Brad Harrington scored two for Corona del Mar.

Vargas, who had planned to take a leave of absence from his Corona del Mar position next season, said Friday that he might return to coach the Sea Kings next season after all. In 10 seasons, Vargas’ teams have won four Southern Section titles.