Men’s Water Polo Nationals Begin: First Day Wrap-up

CORONA DEL MAR, Calif., Aug. 1. THE 2002 men's senior national water polo tournament is taking place this weekend (Aug. 1-4) at two separate venues in Orange County. The tourney, which is one of water polo's most prided championships, will feature 16 of the nation's top club teams competing for the coveted summer crown at Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor High Schools.

The games got under way this evening.

Participating Teams (Records)
Group A Group B Group C Group D
New York Athletic Club (2-0) Newport Water Polo "A" (2-0) Golden Bear Water Polo "A" (1-1) Olympic Club (1-1)
Stanford Water Polo (1-0) Bruin Water Polo (0-1) Newport Water Polo "B" (1-0) New York Athletic Club "B" (1-0)

Big Valley Water Polo (0-2) Lion Water Polo (1-1) De Anza Water Polo (0-2) Sunset – San Diego (1-1)
Navy Water Polo (0-1) Santa Barbara (0-1) Malibu Waves (1-0) Golden Bear Water Polo "B" (0-1)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 1
CORONA DEL MAR HIGH SCHOOL
CONDENSED RESULTS

TIME GAME #
8:00 AM NEW YORK AC "A" 24 NAVY AC 1
9:00 AM NEWPORT WATER POLO "A" 17 SANTA BARBARA WATER POLO 4
10:00 AM GOLDEN BEAR "A" 11 MALIBU WAVES 12
11:00 AM OLYMPIC CLUB 8 GOLDEN BEAR "B" 2
12:00 PM STANFORD WATER POLO 10 BIG VALLEY WATER POLO 5
1:00 PM BRUIN WATER POLO 4 LION WATER POLO 11
2:00 PM NEWPORT WATER POLO "B" 9 DE ANZA WATER POLO 2
3:00 PM NEW YORK AC "B" 9 SUNSET SAN DIEGO 7
4:00 PM NEW YORK AC "A" 13 BIG VALLEY WATER POLO 6
5:00 PM NEWPORT WATER POLO "A" 18 LION WATER POLO 5
6:00 PM GOLDEN BEAR "A" 16 DE ANZA WATER POLO 1
7:00 PM OLYMPIC CLUB SUNSET SAN DIEGO

Game 1: New York Athletic Club "A" 24, Navy Athletic Club 1
Defending Senior National Champion New York Athletic Club got goals from 10 different players in a 24-1 rout of Navy in the opening game of the tournament. 2000 Olympian Sean Kern scored four goals to lead the offensive charge for NYAC, while Mike Burke, two-time Olympian Gavin Arroyo and current national teamer Adam Wright scored three apiece. Joe Donahue scored the
lone goal for Navy.

Game 2: Newport Water Polo "A" 17, Santa Barbara 4
2000 Olympian and current national team hole man Ryan Bailey had his way with Santa Barbara at two-meters in Newport's 17-4 win in Game 2. Bailey, who stands 6'5" and weighs in at 255 lbs., poured in seven goals on the day. Former UC Irvine teammate Jeff Powers, who also plays for the senior national team, scored four goals of his own in the win. Paul Helfer scored both of
his goals in the fourth quarter for Santa Barbara. Genai Kerr (also a national team member), stopped eight shots in goal for Newport.

Game 3: Malibu Waves 12, Golden Bear "A" 11
Jesse Smith, who made a splash for the U.S. national team in this year's FINA World League, scored the go-ahead goal with just under a minute remaining, helping Malibu outlast Golden Bear, 12-11. Smith's goal with 52 seconds left broke a 10-10 tie and put Malibu ahead for good. An insurance goal by Smith put Malibu up 12-10, and Golden Bear's Attila Bandihy's score with one second remaining closed the scoring at 12-11. Smith had four goals in the game. Golden Bear's Rob Arroyo notched four of his own in the loss.

Game 4: Olympic Club 9, Golden Bear "B" 3
Drew Netherton tossed in four goals, three in the first quarter, as the Olympic Club ousted Bay Area rival Golden Bear, 15-4. The Olympic Club powered out to a 7-0 lead before Golden Bear found the net with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter. Kirk Everist, who was just hired on as the new men's head coach at Cal Berkeley, scored two goals for the Olympic Club, as did
James Lathrop.

Game 5: Stanford Water Polo 10, Big Valley Water Polo 5
Stanford got six of its 10 goals from national teamers Tony Azevedo and Peter Hudnut in a 10-5 win over Big Valley Water Polo. Stanford enjoyed a seven-goal lead twice, taking leads of 8-1 and 9-2 in the second half. Stanford keeper Nick Ellis picked up six saves in goal for Stanford. Five different players scored goals for Big Valley.

Game 6: Bruin Water Polo 11, Lion Water Polo 4
A Brett Ormsby-led Bruin squad pounced out to an early lead an never looked back en route to an 11-4 win over Lion Water Polo. Ormsby scored all of his goals in the first half for Bruin, who led 7-1 at halftime. Kevin Witt netted a pair of goals for the Lions in the loss. Brandon Brooks stopped seven shots in goal for Bruin.

Game 7: Newport Water Polo "B" 9, De Anza 2
Barry Dreason cut loose for five goals, while teammate Garret Gentry notched three, as Newport Water Polo "B" topped De Anza, 9-2. Newport led 5-0 at the half, but De Anza showed signs of life in the third quarter, scoring a pair of goals. However, Newport was able to answer the rally, outscoring De Anza 3-2 in the quarter and blanking them in the fourth.

Game 8: New York Athletic Club "B" 9, Sunset San Diego 7
New York Athletic Club "B" outlasted Sunset San Diego, 9-7, on the strength of three fourth quarter goals by Jack Kocur. Kocur, who had five goals in the game, broke a 7-7 tie with his fourth goal at the 2:34 mark in the fourth quarter. He added an insurance goal two minutes later to help NYAC "B" outlast Sunset, 9-7. Matt Ellis accounted for the bulk of the Sunset
offense, scorching the net for four goals. Both NYAC keeper Merrill Moses and his Sunset counterpart collected six saves.

Game 9: New York Athletic Club "A" 13, Big Valley Water Polo 6
New York Athletic Club "A", the defending national champs, parlayed a 3-2 halftime score into a 13-6 victory over Big Valley. NYAC led 3-2 at the half, but went on to outscore Big Valley 5-1 in the fourth quarter and 10-4 in the half, distancing themselves to hang on for the win. Dan Satchkov led NYAC with three goals, while Sean Kern, Marko Pintaric and Larry Felix all had two apiece. Sasha Maese paced Big Valley with three goals.

Game 10: Newport Water Polo "A" 18, Lion Water Polo 5
Ryan Bailey plowed his way through the Lion Water Polo defense, scoring six goals for Newport in an 18-5 win. Newport, which scored 17 goals in its morning win, scored five goals in each quarter but the third, where it scored three. Omar Amr, Mike Evans, and Jeff Powers all scored two goals apiece, while Genai Kerr notched seven saves in goal for Newport.

Game 11: Golden Bear "A" 16, De Anza 1
Attila Bandihy ran the scoreboard for four goals in a 16-1 Golden Bear "A" victory over De Anza. Five different Golden Bear players scored two or more goals in the rout.

Game 12: Sunset San Diego 13, Olympic Club 9
David Miller's five goals helped push Sunset to a 13-9 win over the Olympic Club. Kirk Everist notched four goals of his own in the loss for the Olympic Club. The Olympic Club came to within one goal early in the fourth quarter at 8-7, but Sunset's 3-0 run helped preserve the win.

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