COACHES Eduardo Osorio and Andrew Mutafyan are tossed into the pool after Pacifica’s boys’ water polo team won the Empire League title with an 11-8 win over Kennedy of La Palma (Photo by Randy Toma).

As might be appropriate by the team name, the Pacifica Mariners boys’ water polo team won the Empire League championship with an 11-8 win over Kennedy High of La Palma.

The M’s finished 5-0 in league and 21-4 for the regular season. Pacifica is ranked number one in the CIF-SS Division 6 and will start playoff action next week.

Ducks dunked by the Panthers, 8-3

In recent years, the Anaheim Ducks have had a habit of starting the season slow, then going off on a hot streak. The “starting slow” part was evident on Thursday as they lost 8-3 to the Florida Panthers in the Sunshine State.

The Ducks fell behind 3-1 in the first period, and 6-1 after the second. Coach Randy Carlyle pulled goalie John Gibson, but the pain went on as both teams scored twice in the final period. Kalie Kossila, Andrew Cogliano and Logan Shaw scored for Anaheim.

Now 4-4-1, the Ducks will be next in action on Saturday, visiting the Tampa Bay Lightning (9-1-1).