The @jserra_boys_water_polo team punched its ticket into the CIF-SS Open Division Championship Game on Saturday, as the Lions outlasted the Harvard-Westlake Wolverines by a score of 13-11 in a semifinals clash at JSerra Catholic High School.

The Lions improve to 19-6 overall on the season and will square off with archrival Newport Harbor in the title game next Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

JSerra jumped out to a 4-2 lead at the end of the first period behind two scoring strikes from junior Ronan Keane and individual goals by junior Lars Knepper and junior Dylan Park.

Park tallied his second goal in the second period, but the Wolverines tallied three goals in the period to tie the game at 5-5 heading into halftime.

Harvard-Westlake took its’ only lead of the game 41 seconds into the third period, but the Lions answered with an impressive surge.

Park found the back of the net on a 6-on-5 opportunity 17 seconds later to secure a hat trick and tie the game at 6-6.

Knepper put JSerra back in front at 7-6 with his second goal with 5:15 remaining in the period.

Sophomore Sasha Bjelica converted two back-to-back five-meter scoring chances to push the Lions advantage to 9-6.

Keane completed his hat trick with 2:01 remaining in the period, helping the Lions take a 10-8 lead into the final period.

The Wolverines scored the first two goals of the fourth period to tie the contest at 10-10 with 4:02 remaining.

Bjelica’s third five-meter strike put the Lions ahead for good at 11-10 with 1:57 left.

Park powered a skip shot into the back of the net with 1:11 remaining to give JSerra a two-goal lead.

Bjelica capped the scoring and sealed the victory with his fourth goal into an empty net at the final buzzer.

Senior Gianbattista Alessio recorded a team-best four saves. ...