Northwood’s hopes for a CIF title end, but coach believes future is bright for water polo program

Northwood’s boys water polo team poses for a picture after the second round win. (photo courtesy Michael An)

Northwood’s boys water polo players had high hopes of capturing the school’s first CIF title in the sport.

But Segerstrom ended those hopes Saturday with a 12-8 upset victory over the No. 2 seeded Timberwolves in a quarterfinal round game at Segerstrom to advance into the semifinals Wednesday against Servite.

However, Northwood Coach Kyle Kim-E reminded his players after Saturday’s loss the progress the program has made.

“Every year everyone tells us Northwood is going to have an off year and we’ve gone from D4 semifinalist to D3 second round and now D3 quarterfinals,” Kim-E said. “It’s been a long uphill battle, but next year, we still return a good nucleus of guys and we should hopefully still be as competitive as we can be.”

Kim-E believes the future is bright for Northwood. This year’s team finished 23-8 and was second in the Pacific Coast League behind Woodbridge before winning two games in the CIF playoffs.

So his message to his players was simple after the game.

“It was very similar to the one I told them two years ago at Yucaipa, I told them there is no reason why we can’t get bigger, stronger and faster,” Kim-E said. “We went from being D4 to D3 and depending on how the power rankings go, we might even be D2 next year. It’s proof that as long as the guys trust in the process, it can definitely work. They worked very hard and I think as long as everyone puts in the work in the off-season, there is no reason we can’t have another competitive year next year.

“There is a lot to be proud of. It was our best finish in a long time, at least with my coaching, and I know for CIF, this was one of the best rankings we had. There is nothing to be ashamed of. We have an off game today but Segerstrom played really great and hopefully they win it.”

Max Abravanel and Spencer Sellwood led Northwood with two goals each.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com