Winning touch

Kurzeka's late scoring outburst gives Agoura High School its first CIF-SS boys' water polo title


IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers POWER AND FINESSE- Agoura High senior Peter Kurzeka, right, displays a shooter's touch while lofting the ball over Mira Costa defender Matt Burton during the CIF-SS Division IV championship.

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers POWER AND FINESSE- Agoura High senior Peter Kurzeka, right, displays a shooter’s touch while lofting the ball over Mira Costa defender Matt Burton during the CIF-SS Division IV championship.


In August, the Agoura High boys’ water polo team went overseas to Hungary and Romania to learn how to compete against the best in the world. Those teams may now want to consider paying the Chargers a visit.

Agoura, the Marmonte League champion and the top-ranked team in the CIF-Southern Section’s Division IV coaches’ poll since the preseason, capped its dominant year with an 86 victory over Mira Costa High in the CIFSS Division IV final last Saturday in Irvine.

The Charger boys’ and girls’ teams both own CIF titles now.

Saturday’s victory at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center came nine months after the girls’ squad took the Division II title. It was the first time a team from the Marmonte League has won the boys’ championship since Royal High in 1995.

“Words can’t express how good this feels,” AHS senior goalkeeper Ryan Paris said. “I’m still in shock. I’ve been waiting four years for this. We have Masters next week, but this is a wonderful way to end the season and my career.”

Leading the way for Agoura was senior Peter Kurzeka.

With the game tied at five going into the final quarter, Kurzeka took over, scoring three of his game-high four goals.

“Early on in the game, my shot wasn’t there,” Kurzeka said. “The first three quarters I had to try and set up my teammates. When the fourth quarter came, I think our conditioning really came into play. We were able to get a lot of sixonfives, and I had some better shots because of that.”

After Kurzeka’s fourth goal, which put Agoura up 8-6 with 1:37 remaining in the game, fans in Agoura’s section of the bleachers began chanting, “M-V-P! M-V-P!”

“I heard what the fans were saying, but I tried to block it out of my head,” Kurzeka said. “It felt good to hear the crowd when I scored, but I still needed to get back on defense and make sure Mira Costa didn’t score.”

Agoura head coach Dustin Litvak praised Kurzeka afterward.

“Players like him come around once in a lifetime,” Litvak said. “One thing I really like about his game is his poise. He was a great player to coach.”

While Kurzeka did his part on offense, the AHS defense shined, too. Agoura held Mira Costa’s top scorers, Matt Burton and Jeff Giery, to only a pair of goals.

“Coming into this game we had a lot of matchups that we really liked,” Litvak said. “I thought Matt Carlson did a pretty good job on No. 5 (Giery), and we were able to hold Burton in check.”

Carlson agreed that defense was the key to the win.

“We knew we had to stop Burton and Giery,” Carlson said. “We had to not foul them, but also not let them get any good shots. I thought we did a pretty good job.”

Paris said the team’s trip to Europe in August helped toughen the players up and gave them more confidence than last year’s group that lost in the semifinals to Righetti High.

“Going overseas helped us a lot,” Paris said. “The team bonded well, and we learned how to play with some of the top guys in the world. After playing those teams, there was no reason for great teams like Mira Costa and Arroyo Grande to push us around in the pool anymore.”

In the championship match, the only person that was pushed in the pool was Litvak. While Agoura senior Joey Sparks held on to the ball in the final seconds, Litvak was hurled into the water by senior Casey Sullivan.

“It’s kind of a water polo tradition for the coach to go into the pool after his or her team wins the championship,” Litvak said. “I wasn’t expecting Casey to lift me as high as he did, but I knew I was going in the pool one way or another.”

One thing Litvak wasn’t sure about was whether or not the game would be his last at Agoura. The coach, who played water polo for the Chargers before graduating from the school in 1997, may leave to take a position with the Los Angeles Water Polo Club.

“Things recently have been leading up to me possibly leaving Agoura, and if this was my last game here it’s a sweet way to end it,” Litvak said. “We have a banquet in a few weeks, and I’m sure things will get a little sappier when that happens.”

For Carlson, it was the perfect way to end his Agoura career.

“As the final seconds ticked away, my heart was just racing,” Carlson said. “I thought about all the mornings back in September when we were practicing. I didn’t like it then, but it sure paid off.”

Agoura’s 2007 title-winning team consisted of sophomores Bruk Campbell, PJ Iannone, James Altmann and Dean Ginsburg, as well as juniors David Sparks, Tim Feddersen and Collin Rothermel.

The 13 seniors were Paul Jones, Chris Aiken, Calvin Moffett, Erik Brenner, Brandon Gross, Josh Ji, Val Neminov, Vitality Strokous, Joey Sparks, Paris, Carlson, Kurzeka and Sullivan.

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers SHOW STOPPERS- Behind the rugged defense of players such as Brandon Gross, left, the Agoura boys' water polo team posted a 30-2 overall record this year while winning both league and section championships.

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers SHOW STOPPERS- Behind the rugged defense of players such as Brandon Gross, left, the Agoura boys’ water polo team posted a 30-2 overall record this year while winning both league and section championships.

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