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Orange Lutheran’s girls water polo team is ranked No. 1 in Orange County with a 16-1 record, a major tournament title on its resume and at least a share of a league championship secured.
Yet in the Lancers’ two matches against No. 7 Mater Dei, they’ve won by one and two goals, respectively.
It begs the question: How much parity is there in the race for the CIF-SS Open Division crown?
“Listen, I think (within) the top nine, 10 teams, anybody can beat anybody on a given day,” Mater Dei coach Chris Segesman said after his Monarchs fell to Orange Lutheran 6-4 on Thursday night in the Trinity League.
“Newport made a great run in Santa Barbara (last weekend), and I think it’s going to be an exciting CIF. It’s the first time in some time that parity is there.”
Last season, Newport Harbor dominated en route to claiming the inaugural Open Division title. The Sailors grabbed the championship from Laguna Beach, which won consecutive Division 1 crowns prior to the pandemic shutting down high school sports.
This winter, the scores between top teams seem closer. In another match Thursday, Los Alamitos edged Newport Harbor — which won the the Santa Barbara TOC for the first time — 9-8 in triple sudden-death overtime.
San Marcos coach Chuckie Roth echoed Segesman’s comments after dueling Orange Lutheran in the finals of the Bill Barnett Holiday Cup in late December. The Lancers won 14-12 to win the top early-season tournament for the first time.
“There’s a lot of parity out there right now,” Roth said. “People play different styles and people do different things defensively. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.
“I feel like there is a group of teams — whether it be five or six or seven or eight — that on any given day, if you have a bad day and someone has a good day, they’re going to beat you.”
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The fight for playoff seeding will continue the next few weeks. There are more big league matches, especially in the Surf League. Orange Lutheran plays at Foothill on Friday, Jan. 20 in a clash of teams tied atop the CIF-SS coaches rankings. And there is the Newport Invitational next weekend.
The playoff pairings will be released Feb. 4.
“It’s going to be an exciting playoffs,” Foothill coach Paden Mitchell said. “Anyone could get hot and win it.”