Gulliver boys salvage rough first day for South Florida teams at state water polo

The Gulliver Prep boys’ water polo team saved South Florida’s best for last on Friday.

Six hours after the state semifinals started with the first of four games at Belen Jesuit, Gulliver closed out a 14-8 win over third-seeded Seminole (21-9).

Second-seeded Gulliver (21-4) will play top-seeded Orlando power Dr. Phillips (29-2) for the title on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Prior to Gulliver’s win, three other South Florida teams went down to defeat, including the St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ team. Also losing were the girls’ squads from Gulliver and Miami Country Day.

“This feels better,” said Carroll Vaughan, who coaches Gulliver’s boys’ and girls’ teams. “This feels better than how I felt earlier today (after the Gulliver girls lost).”

One reason why Gulliver’s boys won was the stellar play of sophomore Juan Sebastian Ibarra, who came up with nine saves against Seminole.

The most shocking part about Ibarra’s game is that this is his first season as a goalie.

“I think I’ve made the adjustment to goalie pretty well,” Ibarra said. “I think I have a certain natural aspect. I just committed to playing goalie.”

Even with Ibarra playing well, Gulliver’s win was not easy as its leading scorer – Pepperdine recruit Gabe Lewis – fouled out in the third quarter.

That nervous feeling that Gulliver fans were surely feeling only intensified when Seminole sliced its deficit in half, to 7-6.

But Gulliver scored four straight goals in the fourth quarter to take an 11-6 lead and essentially put the game away.

Alberto Escobedo and Mateo Balestra led Gulliver with four goals each.

Meanwhile, Aquinas – which won the 2023 state title – was officially dethroned on Friday, losing 15-12 to Dr. Phillips.

Aquinas (16-13) led Dr. Phillips 6-1 before failing to secure its lead.

“We don’t have a deep team,” Aquinas coach Michael Goldenberg said. “To win, we had to play a perfect game.

“The only way it could work for us was if we didn’t get in foul trouble. But we did, and (Dr. Phillips) was able to exploit it.”

Goldenberg said he lost 14 players from last season – 11 graduated, two quit the sport and one transferred.

In the first girls’ state semifinal on Friday, top-seeded Seminole (30-0) defeated fourth-seeded Miami Country Day, 16-4. The Spartans finished their season with a 13-9 record.

Miami Country Day got two goals from Valeria Villanueva and one each from Briana Dunn and Sasha Blasky.

Goalie Angelica Del Guercio-Moran posted three saves.

“I’m extremely proud of the progress we made this season,” MCD coach Stephanie Batcheller said. “The girls worked extremely hard, and it paid off with our first state semifinals appearance since 2010.”

In the second girls’ state semifinal, third-seeded West Orange (25-5) upset second-seeded Gulliver, 11-7. The Raiders finished their season with a 20-4 record.

The Gulliver girls fell behind 2-0 and never led. However, the Raiders tied the score five times.

The final tie score was 6-6 at halftime. From there, West Orange wore down the Raiders, outscoring them 3-0 in the third period.

Gulliver got as close as 9-7 with 5:10 left in the game, but a West Orange goal one minute later sealed the Raiders’ fate.

“West Orange was very physical, and I don’t know if my girls were ready for that,” Vaughan said. “We don’t play anybody else who plays like that.

“There’s a lot of grabbing under the water. Our girls were spinning to show the referee they were holding their suits. But by the time the referees can see, they would let go.

“And we also got in foul trouble early – our top players.”

Another issue – Gulliver’s offense was shut down after scoring four goals in the first period. The Raiders scored just three goals in the final three periods, and they shot a low percentage (29.0) for the game.

Gulliver goalie Sofia Beltran – who is just an eighth-grader – put up a good fight, stopping two penalty shots.

But it wasn’t enough.

“Our shooters were off,” Vaughan said. “We were too predictable. We weren’t quick enough. West Orange looked hungrier. They got the 50-50 balls.”