CIF Water Polo: Murrieta Valley Overwhelms Sage Hill 13-3

Published November 13, 2014

The Nighthawks Advance to the Division III Quarterfinals

Coach Bryan Lynton’s Murrieta Valley Boys Water Polo team wasted no time putting things in order this afternoon as the Nighthawks overwhelmed Sage Hill 13-3 in round one of the CIF SS Division 3 playoffs. The Lightning had qualified to play Murrieta by beating Alhambra 14-5 in Tuesday’s wildcard game. They were not ready to face the second seed in the tournament.

The Nighthawks Hudson Rawlings exploded for five of his six goals in the first period as he led the Murrieta Valley attack. The Nighthawks led 8-1 and would score five more times before the half. Coach Lynton pulled his starters early in the second period and they never returned for the remainder of the game.

More Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/pages/High-School-Sports-Pictures/141254396021855?ref=hl

Decker Dempsey and Eric Schleuniger scored two gals apiece for Murrieta Valley. Richard Sappington and Ian Fleenor rounded out the Nighthawk scoring with one goal each. Murrieta rotated Taylor Miller and Austin Garcia in goal as they held the Lightning to just two goals.

Ethan Nobels and Chris Wan scored one goal each for Sage Hill. The Lightning used Zack Drobenko and Rachel Jaffe in goal against the Nighthawks. Jaffe and Page Solas were two females playing on the Sage Hill team.

The Nighthawks will play La Canada Saturday in the Division III quarterfinals. The Spartans are the Rio Hondo League Champions and squeaked by Moorpark by a goal 11-10. They are led by Justin Ho and Matt Olson and Fredrick Houghton.

Murrieta Valley is focused and Coach Lynton’s Nighthawks are taking the tournament one game at a time. The venue has not been announced. Game time is 5pm.