WALNUT — Two years ago, Bonita’s boys water polo team defeated Temecula Valley in the CIF Southern Section semifinals en route to a title.
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Bonita’s Head Coach Dillon Unsoeld jumps to the pool after defeating Temecula Valley during the CIF Southern Section Division 3 boys water polo championship at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
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Bonita’s Head Coach Dillon Unsoeld jumps to the pool after defeating Temecula Valley during the CIF Southern Section Division 3 boys water polo championship at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
It was a game that Temecula Valley coach Zachary Miller thought should have been the final because Bonita and Temecula Valley were the two best teams in the division.
Two years later, the Golden Bears got another playoff shot at the Bearcats, this time in the finals.
The result was the same, however, as Bonita held on for a thrilling 10-9 victory Saturday night at Mt. San Antonio College to capture the Division 3 title.
It was the eighth CIF-SS title in program history for Bonita, while Temecula Valley was making its first finals appearance.
“They beat a lot of good teams to get here,” Bonita coach Dillon Unsoeld said. “We definitely didn’t overlook them. We knew it was going to be a battle. Hats off to them, it literally came down to the last five seconds. I’m just happy we came out on top.”
Bonita never trailed but also never led by more than three goals in the game (5-2 and 6-3), and Temecula Valley tied the score 8-8 on Hayden Dablaing’s goal with 4:11 to play.
Gary Watson and Antonio Finianos scored for Bonita to make it 10-8 with 2:08 to play, but again the Golden Bears didn’t give in.
Temecula Valley senior Connor Liu made it 10-9 with a tip-in goal with 34.5 seconds to play.
Bonita ran nearly all of the remaining clock out, but not all as the Golden Bears got the ball back and called a timeout with five seconds left.
“It (the play) was basically to put it in my captain’s hands,” Miller said, referring to Chase Wedell. “He’s been my trust guy from day one. Ten out of 10 times, I will always put it in to him and he just missed it. We can’t boil It (the loss) down to one play.”
Wedell’s shot was off-target, and Bonita got the ball back with less than a second left and ran out the clock.
It was a nerve-racking final few seconds for Bonita senior goalie Julian Falk.
“It was just like, ‘holy cow. This is unreal.’ I was just freaking out,” Falk said. “My mind was all over the place. I’m just glad we won.”
It’s been a wild ride for Falk, who was the starting goalie in the 2023 championship game. He missed the entire regular season this year with a torn UCL on his throwing (right) arm.
“It’s 80% torn. I had a brace. I went to physical therapy,” Falk said. “The brace takes away all the pain. I really wanted to come back. I had the courage to go to physical therapy because I didn’t want it to hurt anymore. It was all worth it.”
Bonita was led by Jeffry Heaton, who scored four goals, and Finianos, who added three.
Liu led the Golden Bears with four goals.
“There are a lot of people who have coached there before me who have had a lot of success,” Unsoeld said. “I feel like I’m at the table, a little bit, with them. We had a lot of success a couple of years ago. I’m happy we were able to back it up this year.”
The Golden Bears showed a never-say-die mindset Saturday despite not being able to ultimately win.
“That’s just been our year all along. Showing resilience. Our motto was, ‘sacrifice for the guy next to you.’ We wanted it, we just came down a little short,” Miller said.
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