CORONADO ONCE AGAIN CHAMP

A five-time Olympian, a member of three CIF San Diego Section championship title teams in high school, Coronado’s Jesse Smith returned to his alma mater in championship style this year.

Coronado 10, Carlsbad 8

Smith coached Coronado to the Division I title as the fifth-seeded Islanders upended No. 2 Carlsbad 10-8 behind five goals by senior Luke Machin in their second straight final at La Jolla High on Saturday.

With much encouragement needed from his players, Smith did a dip in the pool rather than a plunge in the traditional manner. Then he deflected attention from himself

“These guys won,” said Smith, a member of Coronado championship squads in 1998-2000, nodding to his team. “They did the work. Also, we have the best assistant coaches in San Diego. I really didn’t do anything.”

Neither team led by more than a goal until the Islanders’ Ryan Mondzelewski scored back-to-back goals in the first two minutes of the third period for a 6-4 edge. Also, Machin recorded four of his goals in the second half.

“It’s very exciting (to win),” Machin said. “I had a lot of energy coming into this game, and it was a collective team effort.”

Goalie Spencer Williams made 13 saves for Coronado (10-14), which won its first title since 2017 after going 0-6 in the rugged City Western League.

Carlsbad (21-9) appeared in its first final since prevailing in 2014.

Open Division

Cathedral Catholic 11, Bishop’s 10 (OT): It took overtime for senior Ben Mirisch and his Cathedral Catholic teammates to have the final say.

Mirisch scored his only two goals of the game in the two required overtime periods to help propel the topseeeded Dons to their second championship in three

Coronado’s Luke Machin shoots and scores over Carlsbad’s Goodwin Gerdeman during the Division I water polo finals at La Jolla High School on Saturday.

seasons.

Cathedral (20-10) mounted a 3-2 OT edge to prevail over the defending champion, which fell despite seven goals by the Knights senior Lukas Peabody, including the last two during OT.

In regulation play, Peabody converted following a steal by Nick Grandinetti, to put No. 2 Bishop’s (15-15) ahead 8-7 with 1:39 left. But the Dons’ Max Arnold answered with his second score 22 seconds later to force overtime, and then teammate Braylen Axline opened the OT scoring with second goal.

The Knights trailed 7-5 entering the fourth quarter, yet they overcame a two-goal deficit for the second time in the game.

Division II

Classical Academy 7, Patrick Henry 5: Not only did senior junior Aidan Johnson spearhead Classical Academy with four goals, but he also started off the postgame celebration.

“C’mon, everyone in!” Johnson shouted to his teammates on deck to all join in the pool to enjoy the second-seeded Caimans’ first title since winning the Division III crown in 2018.

“This means everything,’’

said Johnson, a third-year varsity member. “We’ve been working so hard for this all season.”

Classical stepped up from the semifinals a year ago following the graduation of just one starter from last season.

“Going into this, we thought we could do it,” Caimans goalie David Lepine said. “We really showed up and fought hard.”

Le Pine, in his fourth varsity season, made 13 saves to subdue the No. 1 Patriots (20-6) in their first final since claiming the 2019 crown.

Josiah Wagner tallied twice for Classical, opening the scoring in each half.

Division III

La Jolla Country Day 8, High Tech San Diego 3: In his first varsity season at La Jolla Country Day, freshman Theo Noragard sparked the Torreys to their first section championship.

Noragard scored the first two of his four goals within 43 seconds late in the second quarter to help the topseeded Torreys establish firm control with a 5-2 halftime edge.

“That felt really good,” said Noragard, whose second goal came with 1:50 before halftime. “But it’s not about scoring (personally). It’s about winning.”

Those two goals came as part of a 5-0 that extended the lead to 7-2 into the fourth quarter. Andrew Zekko added two goals for LJCD (26-6) which lost in the quarterfinals a year ago.

No. 3 High Tech (16-10) went span of 21:11 without scoring until converting with 3:20 left. Torreys goalie Ryan Docherty finished with nine saves.

Open Division, fifth place

Vista 12, Rancho Bernardo 10: Cade Zeilinger scored four goals to spearhead Vista as the thirdseeded Panthers (21-10) prevailed to earn the final qualifying spot in the Southern California Regional Championships.

Down 10-8 to start the fourth quarter, No. 8 Rancho Bernardo (23-8) pulled even 10-10 on a penalty shot by John Williams with 2:52 left. But Vista responded with closing goals by Noah Sharp and Marcos Dimicelli.

Also advancing to the regionals are the four Open Division semifinalists and the three other division champions.

The Broncos stepped up to the Open Division this season after claiming the DII crown a year ago.

DENIS POROY