SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Water Polo

It's 'Game on!" for Mustangs in first season

By Phillip Brents
Posted Oct. 26, 2004

It appears to be “Game on!” for the first-year Otay Ranch boys water polo team. That much was aptly demonstrated Oct. 14 when the fledgling Mustangs defeated the Chula Vista Spartans by a score of 14-13 in double overtime at the Parkway pool. The victory evened Otay Ranch’s record at 3-3 and gave the team its second consecutive victory in a row.

““Because we’re so young and new to everything, we’re trying to focus on fundamentals right now. It’s showing in our team play. In our first game, we were just uncertain about a lot of things. But we’ve started to grow into the game more. We’re still learning as we go on,” Mustang head coach Chris Moselle said.

Otay Ranch opened its season by losing its first two games by lopsided margins — 22-7 to La Jolla County Day and 22-3 to Hilltop. The first major event occurred Oct. 7 when the Mustangs won their first-ever game in school history. It came in dramatic fashion as Ryan Castro scored the game-winning goal in the final three seconds remaining in regulation play. The victory also evened Otay Ranch’s record at 1-1 in South Bay League play. Danny Inzunza led the Mustangs with three goals while goalie Kevin Mosser made 10 saves to preserve the win. Castro and Scott Kruse each scored twice in the game.

Inzunza scored nine goals to lead the Mustangs to their second South Bay League victory, 15-8, against Castle Park on Oct. 12. Jonathan Jeffery scored two goals while Mosser made 12 saves in the game for Otay Ranch, which had dropped a 13-1 decision to El Capitan in a non-league game on Oct. 9 to fall to 1-3.

Inzunza scored the final two goals for Otay Ranch as the Mustangs won their first-ever overtime contest against the Spartans. Otay Ranch trailed throughout the game before tying the contest at 10-10 on a goal by Inzunza with 1:28 remaining in regulation play. The Mustangs scored the first goal in the first three-minute overtime period but host Chula Vista responded with unanswered goals to take a 12-11 lead. Castro closed out the first overtime period with a goal to allow Otay Ranch to tie the score. The Mustangs took a 13-12 lead when Inzunza slapped in a tip pass by Castro in front of the Spartan cage while Otay Ranch owned a man-advantage. The Mustangs then took a two-goal lead, 14-12, when Inzunza scored again. Chula Vista got the ball back in the waning seconds of the final overtime period, after closing the score to within one goal, but could not get off a shot before the buzzer sounded.

Inzunza was a scoring machine early on for Otay Ranch, which matched Chula Vista with the game’s opening two goals. The Mustangs’ come-from-behind win was impressive in that the Spartans had led 7-4 at halftime. Mosser finished the game with 11 saves for Otay Ranch. Inzunza led the Mustangs with nine goals while Castro had three goals and Julian Abellar scored twice.