Cif Division Vi Boys’ Water Polo Semifinals:

IRVINE — In shock and riddled with disappointment, first-year Glendale High boys’ water polo Coach Forest Holbrook couldn’t fault the effort.

Shortly after his team’s improbable postseason run ended with an 18-14 overtime loss to top-seeded Webb in a CIF Southern Section Division VI semifinal match at the William Woollett, Jr. Aquatics Center, Holbrook stood alongside a corner of the pool deck to offer congratulations to his athletes after what the Nitros had accomplished the past week.

“All together, we put in a good effort,” said Holbrook, who inherited the coaching reigns in June from Bob Zirovich after serving as an assistant coach at Pacifica High in Garden Grove. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Glendale (20-7) held its own against Webb (29-3) throughout the bulk of the match despite having to kill off 11 man-advantage opportunities.

The Nitros held a 13-10 lead with less than two minutes remaining, before the Gauls knotted the match at 13 with 11 seconds left in regulation on a man-advantage goal by Austin Talleur that zipped past Glendale junior goalkeeper Haik Chatalyan’s hands. From there, Glendale proved to be overmatched by a rejuvenated Webb during a pair of three-minute overtime sessions.

Upstart Glendale, which took second in the Pacific League behind third-seeded Crescenta Valley and made its first trip to the semifinals since 2000, saw its valiant playoff run end when it was outscored, 5-1, in overtime. Webb, which captured the Prep League crown, will face second-seeded Rio Mesa in the championship match at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the same location.

Junior hole/set Gor Asryan, who finished with a team-best five goals, said the Nitros might have appeared nervous in the closing minutes of regulation.

“It was nerve-wracking,” said Asryan, who scored the lone goal in overtime. “We made some mistakes on defense in the last two minutes.

“We thought we could pull it off in overtime. Overtime is where it counts the most.”

Instead, the Gauls owned the six extra minutes.

Asryan gave Glendale a 14-13 lead on a close-up shot with 1:56 remaining in the first overtime session. Then, Webb scored three goals in a row to take a 16-14 lead after the first overtime before getting a pair of goals from Chris Sazo in the second overtime.