Boys' water polo: Chargers grab first postseason win since 2002

Edison took advantage of one more six-on-five situation with 2:39 left to put the game away. A steal by Morelli set up a pass from Menke to Harrison, who scored to make it 9-5.

Mroch had a tremendous performance in goal for Edison. He had three saves in each of the third and fourth quarters and finished with 12 saves.

Buena goalie Jake Connelly also had a strong showing, recording seven saves.

"He's phenomenal," Riley said of Mroch. "He's the reason we're sitting where we are right now."

Bazzell led the Chargers with four goals Spreeman scored twice and Harrison, Menke and Morelli each scored once. Greg Carter had two assists.

Michael Raftery tied Bazzell for game-high scoring honors with four goals for the Bulldogs.

In a Sunset League finale Nov. 3, Edison scored a 5-3 victory over rival Fountain Valley at Newport Harbor High. Carter, Bazzell, Spreeman, and Harrison and Troy Oates, both freshmen, all scored. Mroch registered 10 saves.

The win qualified Edison for CIF.

"We set a team goal at the beginning of the season to qualify for CIF in Division I, which we knew was going to be a major challenge and required us to play as a team and work harder than ever before," said Riley, who improved to 8-1 against Fountain Valley as head coach. "The Sunset League has three of the top teams in the county in Newport Harbor, Los Alamitos and Huntington Beach, so the theme of the season was that we needed to have a .500 win-loss record to qualify and make sure we finished at least fourth in league.

"Our game against Fountain Valley was as emotional and intense as it gets. I told the boys it was our CIF game because with a win, they would advance on, and a loss would end their season. We coined a phrase all week, 'Win We're In Wednesday." The stands were packed with so many Edison supporters, from our administration, to ex-players, family, friends, students. The crowd was loud and obnoxious and the boys really fed off the atmosphere."

In addition to Edison playing at Mater Dei, Huntington Beach (Sunset No. 3) plays at Santa Barbara (Channel League No. 2) in another first-round Division I game Wednesday. Golden West League runner-up Ocean View opens Division VII play Thursday at Mt. Baldy League champion Don Lugo.