No. 2 Tritons Edge No. 3 Villa Park

San Clemente’s Josh Hewko scored the winning goal with 4.6 seconds remaining to give San Clemente, ranked second in the county, an 11-10 victory over third-ranked Villa Park in a nonleague boys’ water polo game Thursday at Villa Park.

Hewko’s goal capped a wild fourth quarter after Villa Park had rallied from a four-goal deficit to tie the score, 10-10, with 12.7 seconds remaining on a goal by Matt Herrera.

Hewko took a pass at the corner of the goal, quickly changed hands and slammed the ball past Spartan goalkeeper Jared Jones, giving San Clemente a season-opening victory.

The victory could move the Tritons into the county’s top spot, after No. 1 Newport Harbor lost to Long Beach Wilson Tuesday. The Tritons play Wilson Tuesday.

“It’s good to get off a win in the first game of the season,” San Clemente Coach Marc Parker said. “Especially against this team. We are really young and we made a lot of rookie mistakes, but I was really happy with the way we played.”

The Tritons had control of the game, taking a 9-5 lead into the fourth quarter. However, T.J. Matijevich pulled the Spartans to within 10-9, scoring three of his five goals with less than four minutes remaining.

Villa Park (1-1) had several scoring opportunities in the final quarter, but the San Clemente defense stiffened.

Eric Swenson stopped a six-on-five opportunity when he blocked a shot by Bobby Long with just over five minutes remaining, and goalkeeper Thomas Kader knocked down a Matijevich penalty shot with less than two minutes remaining. Kader finished with nine saves.