ORANGE COUNTY WATER POLO ALL-STAR MATCH : South Team Has More Fun This Year

TUSTIN — The South defeated the North, 9-5, in the seventh Orange County all-star water polo match Saturday at Tustin High School, but winning or losing wasn’t the main objective.

“These kids have played in so many pressure games this year,” said Santa Ana Valley’s Kirk Dennis, who coached the North, “today, we just wanted them to have fun.”

Early on, the South had all the fun, outshooting the North, 8-2, in the first quarter. Jeff Moloughney of Capistrano Valley and Jon Kenyon of Marina each scored to give the South a 2-0 lead.

Alan Herrmann of Dana Hills took over in the second quarter for the South, scoring two goals, on a backhander and a rebound.

Herrmann’s goals came after Lenny Malo of Villa Park scored 17 seconds into the second quarter to pull the North within one goal and Stanley Shen of Esperanza scored with three minutes remaining in the quarter to cut the lead to 3-2.

“I think it took a while for everyone to settle in,” said Marina’s Dave Pickford, who coached the South. “It was like ‘OK, we’re all good . . . now who’s gonna do something?’ ”

El Toro’s Daniel Mathot scored on a breakaway to give the South a 5-2 halftime lead, then Brian Codori of Corona del Mar, Jeremy Braxton-Brown of Capistrano Valley and Bryce Matthews of San Clemente scored in the third quarter to push the South’s lead to 8-3.

North goalie Craig Thomas of Esperanza made nine saves.