Northwood takes aim at first CIF title, but needs to get past Santa Barbara first

Northwood’s boys water polo team is aiming to bring home the school’s first CIF title. (Photo courtesy Michael An, For OC Sports Zone)

Northwood’s boys water polo team will get a chance to bring home a CIF championship with one more win on Wednesday.

Northwood will take on Santa Barbara in the semifinal round of the CIF Division 3 playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Complex in Irvine with the winner advancing to face the winner of the other semifinal between Beckman of the Pacific Coast League and Scurr.

Both matches start at 3:30 p.m. Northwood will play in the left pool and Beckman in the right pool.

Northwood is back in the semifinals for the first time since 2016, when the squad lost to Yucaipa in the Division 4 playoffs. The Timberwolves advanced to the semifinals with a 6-5 victory in overtime Saturday over Westlake.

Northwod is out to bring home the first CIF title in boys water polo for the school. Northwood was the runner-up in 2006 and 2007 and also advanced to the semifinals in 2011 before losing to Corona del Mar.

“We’re really excited,” said Northwood Coach Kyle Kim-E. “I think a lot of our guys’ goals are obviously to get as far as we can in CIF and I know it’s especially more special for seniors Chris Pukszta and Max Abravanel because they were in the semifinals during their freshman year and Max was actually a starter for us that year.

“It is pretty special that he gets to come back to the semifinals his senior year but now on Woollett’s pool deck.”

Northwood will also likely have a large crowd of fans supporting the team in the Irvine pool.

“When we made it back in 2016, everyone was excited of course to make the semifinals,” Kim-E said. “But having to travel all the way to Yucaipa is definitely a different feeling than having to go down the street to Woollett.”

It will be the first time that Northwood has played Santa Barbara this year.

“Santa Barbara is a very physical team so I think we’re going to have to match their intensity from the very start,” Kim-E said. “They have a big two-meter player and it looks like they have some good outside shooters too.”

At the same time Wednesday, Beckman will be playing Schurr in the right side pool. A possible All-PCL final would be on Saturday if both Northwood and Beckman win.

“It’s exciting,” Kim-E said. “Everyone always talks about how tough the Pacific Coast League is, especially with Woodbridge in there and we had Irvine and Uni who were two top 10 Division 4 teams. Now they see that Beckman and us are in the semifinals it really confirms how hard of a league it is.”

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