RANCHO CUCAMONGA — On the surface, this was a playoff mismatch between the top-seeded team in Division 2 and the team that finished third in the top-seeded team’s league.
Chino Hills’ Jack Walker (6) is defended by Etiwanda’s Brandon Hansen (3) in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Etiwanda’s Owen Veirs (2) gets the fans cheering after scoring against Chino Hills’ in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Etiwanda’s Owen Veirs (2) stops the shot of Chino Hills’ Jack Walker (6) in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Jacob Walker (7) defends Etiwanda’s Brandon Hansen (3) in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Max Hawes (10), back, defends Etiwanda’s Ender Aguilar (10) in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Jack Walker (6) shot hits the post between Etiwanda defenders in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Etiwanda’s Lucas Stiles (1) blocks a Chino Hills shot in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Jacob Walker (7)steals the ball from a Etiwanda player in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Max Hawes (10) blocks the pass of Etiwanda’s Brandon Hansen (3) in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Etiwanda’s Lucas Stiles (1) yells orders against Chino Hills in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Santiago Soza (1) blocks an Etiwanda shot in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Santiago Soza (1) reacts after Etiwanda scored past him in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Etiwanda’s Owen Veirs (2) celebrates after scoring against Chino Hills in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Jacob Walker (7) is defended by Etiwanda’s Logan Horacek (7) as he shoots in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ head coach Tim Tobin directs his players against Etiwanda in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Jack Walker (6) on a breakaway against Etiwanda in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Jacob Walker (7) waits for the whistle for the sprint to the ball against Etiwanda in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Etiwanda head coach Kyle Smolinski directs his players against Chino Hills in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Etiwanda’s Jared Jorgensen (8) defends Chino Hills’ Max Hawes (10) in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Official Andrew Gates shows number eight scored a goal against Chino Hills in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Chino Hills’ Santiago Soza is unable to block the shot of Etiwanda’s Chris Dow (4) as he scores in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Etiwanda’s Brandon Hansen (3) pumps his fist after scoring against Chino Hills in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Etiwanda players celebrate their 12-7 victory over Chino Hills in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
1 of 23
Chino Hills’ Jack Walker (6) is defended by Etiwanda’s Brandon Hansen (3) in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round boys water polo match in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Expand
Yet the actual difference between Chino Hills and Etiwanda was much closer: a single game that was decided by a goal.
The rematch wasn’t as close.
Host Etiwanda never trailed, holding top-seeded Chino Hills scoreless in the fourth quarter in a 12-7 victory Tuesday in a CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round match
Etiwanda (20-6) advances to host Los Alamitos in the quarterfinal Friday.
“We made a concerted effort to play harder defense, press harder on defense. We wanted to force them to beat us in deep,” Etiwanda coach Kyle Smolinski said. “And we were confident we could cover them.
“I think this is the best game we played this season.”
Chino Hills (25-5) went undefeated in the Baseline League, beating every team once in the round-robin then winning the league tournament. But Etiwanda did not advance to the finals of the league tournament so the only time the teams met before Tuesday was an 8-7 game won by Chino Hills on Sept. 30.
The Eagles scored the game’s first two goals by Jared Jorgensen and Brandon Hansen, but it should’ve been more dominating as the Eagles were unable to convert twice on five-meter penalty shots.
“For the season, it (converting penalty shots as a team) is probably 90 percent,” Smolinski said. “We’d probably missed four all season and we missed half of that today. It’s pretty crazy.”
The Eagles seemed well on their way to an easy victory, building a 7-2 lead with just 1:27 to play before halftime.
But the Huskies seemed to get some momentum by scoring three times in the final minute of the first half, including two goals by Jack Walker, to make it 7-5.
Chino Hills did score the first goal of the second half to make it 7-6, but three straight goals by Etiwanda ended that momentum.
“They just couldn’t stick to the game plan,” Huskies coach Chantz Gladden said. “I told them several times to keep moving, moving, moving. And we didn’t do that. On both ends. We were stagnant and vertical and the water and the result shows.”
Leading 10-7 entering the fourth quarter, Smolinski would have liked his team to put away the Huskies earlier in the quarter with a couple more goals. But the Eagles’ dominating defense kept Chino Hills from quality scoring chances and the game felt over before Etiwanda scored the final two goals in the final 2 ½ minutes.
Gavin Behee led Etiwanda with four goals, while Hansen added three and Owen Veirs scored twice. Walker and Collin Martin scored two goals apiece for Chino Hills.
