Instant analysis: Div. I wpolo - CdM gets toughie (updated 8:40 p)
November 9th, 2008, 12:13 pm · 5 Comments · posted by DAN ALBANO, ocvarsity.com
Here's is my first-day read of the Division I playoff bracket in boys water polo:
Upper bracket
First-round matches Wednesday
Irvine (at-large) at No. 1 Foothill (updated)- I thought LosAl might be No. 1 based on their No. 1 ranking in the final Division I poll but it turns out, the Grifs were No. 1 before their match against El Toro on Friday. They lost and dropped. Foothill will crush the Vaqs and have a tough match Friday in the quarters against either the Loyola-Ventura winner. But here's the prob for the Knights. If Ventura beats Loyola (see below), Foothill will be the road team on Friday. Yikes.
I have not seen the coin-flip results for other quarterfinal sites but will update this analysis when I do.
Ventura at Loyola (updated) - Toughest pairing of the first round in the entire Southern Section. Both sides are probably not thrilled to be seeing each other. Ventura just edged Loyola, 11-10, in the finals of the Vellekamp #2 on Nov. 1. One could make the case that this match pits the weakest league champion (Loyola) against the strongest third-place team (Ventura).
University at Newport - The Tars got the pairing they probably predicted. What does it take to catch Coach Lynch off guard? Newport rolls onto the quarters and takes on Santa Barbara. The Dons will be very tough no matter the site.
Wild-card A at No. 4 Santa Barbara (winner of Tuesday's match: Huntington Beach at Notre Dame/SO): - The Oilers probably win Tuesday but fall Wednesday against the Dons.
Lower bracket
Buena at No. 3 Los Alamitos - Grifs roll against this at-large foe but Wednesday's second-round match against CdM could be a classic. CdM is playing very well - as its victory against Mater Dei on Friday showed.
Northwood at CdM (updated) - The Sea Kings capture the PCL and get rewarded with James Hartshorne and group of hungry young Timberwolves, their old PCL rival. That's a pretty tough draw despite the Wolves' record. Northwood (9-19) has improved and fell to Newport, 6-5, in mid-October. Still, Coach Barry O'Dea's boys are playing great and will take this one but Hartshorne's play in goal will make it tight for a while.
Harvard-Westlake at Dos Pueblos (updated) - The second-hardest Division I pairing. Neither side can be happy to be playing each other but this is Division I and both teams are second-place entries. Can they really complain?
Wild-card B at No. 2 El Toro (winner of Tuesday's match: Laguna Hils at Esperanza) - The Chargers might get a push from the Aztecs on Wednesday but they could a very tough quarterfinal match Friday at Harvard-Westlake. That's got to concern El Toro coach Don Stoll.
More water polo pairings:
- Division I pairings
- Division II pairings
- Instant Analysis: Division II pairings
- Division III pairings
- Instant Analysis: Division III pairings
- Division V pairings
- Division VI pairings
- DivisionVII pairings
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Hey Dan,
Based on the time (and $) CIF had to spend in court with CDM this season I wonder what is going through their minds when they act on any decision regarding the CDM team going forward. I believe CIF will intentionally make CDM as uncomfortable as possible. When I read your openning statement above, it was like (hello) this was written on the wall back in October! It was no suprise...But beside all this it is still going to be an exciting tournament for all players and fans.
Keep up the good coverage.
All the best!
How does Esperanza (Sunset #3) get thrown into a wild card, but Irvine (at-large) and Buena (at-large) goes straight into the first round?
Good question Pat - my guess is that all the third place teams and at-large squads were thrown into a hat to determine who played in the two wild-card matches but I will ask CIF
Irvine who had a .500 record exactly is going to the first round against the number one team!!! That is hardly a favor. By CIF rules number 1 teams in a league are supposed to play number three teams in a different league. Northwood is the lowest ranked number three team there is. CDM is lucky to get that first round draw! They could have gotten Ventura, or Esperanza. Can you really say the CIF office tried to screw CDM. It's almost as if they got an easy first round to make sure it didn't look that way. Northwood got killed by Cerritos HS who is ranked 9th in Division IV. Give me a break. CDM is going slide by Northwood.
I'm sure that if you ask Irvine, they would love to switch places with Esperanza and play Laguna Hills. Irvine Vaqs are excited just to be playing a well earned CIF playoff game. With two Sophmores and two Freshman starters who have a combined 17 years of water polo experience, they will be fun to watch on Wednesday and in the future. CDM needs to concentrate on playing Northwood or they will find themselves with a loss.