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The Eastlake Titans display team spirit following their come-from-behind 7-5 victory against El Capitan.

Eastlake Titans steer past El Capitan Vaqueros

By Phillip Brents

CHULA VISTA, Oct. 8, 2003 -- Non-league games are designed to prepare teams for the rigors that often go hand-in-hand with deep-seated rivalries in league play.

At right: Eastlake's Sam Gottlieb is defended by an El Capitan player.

The Eastlake Titans had to be wondering if league play would ever roll around after limping through a tough stretch of non-league games that at one point had left them with a 2-7 record.

It wasn't necessarily supposed to start this way.

Eastlake's water warriors appear to have turned their season around at the right time after defeating El Capitan, 7-5, in comeback fashion Wednesday night at the Southwestern College pool. The win was the second in a row for the Titans, who open Metro Conference play Friday against Southwest with a 5 p.m. game at Southwestern College.

Max Lopez scored with 1:49 left in the fourth quarter to erase a 5-4 Vaquero lead and Sam Gottlieb added a key goal 36 seconds later to give the Titans the lead for good as Eastlake (4-7) stormed back with the game's final three goals after trailing on three separate occasions.

"We brought it together today. The guys played with the knowledge and intensity they have the potential for," said Titan coach Lonny Wood, whose team led early by scores of 1-0 and 3-2 before falling behind 4-3 at halftime.

El Capitan (2-5) could only string together a run of two unanswered goals twice in the game -- Todd Coyle and Tommy Campbell scored back-to-back goals to give the Vaqueros a 2-1 lead to counter a jump goal by Eastlake's James Hiney and Coyle and Chris Johnson later beat Titan goalie Austin Legg on consecutive shots to give the visitors their one-goal halftime edge.

However, Eastlake responded with the only goal of the third period -- a score by Hiney -- to level the score and begin to gather defensive momentum for the remainder of the contest.

Johnson put El Captian back in the lead at 5-4 on a goal scored with 4:17 to play in regulation, but the Titans ensured there would be no overtime period by scoring three goals of their own making in a 1:03 span inside the final two minutes of play.

Lopez' first goal came on a man-up situation to tie the game and Gottlieb scored his hat trick goal off a long feed by Legg (pictured at left), who once again produced a rock-solid performance in the cage with 12 saves. Lopez closed out scoring with a huge insurance goal with 46 seconds left on the score clock.

Wood credited the entire team, not just one individual, as responsible for creating the win. "They played really strong as a unit. The assists were well done and the shots were on target," the Eastlake coach said.

Gottlieb led the Titans with three goals, followed by two each by Hiney and Lopez.

El Capitan won the junior varsity game 6-3.