The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Boys Water Polo Handed Third League Defeat by Spartans

On Tuesday, September 29, the boys water polo team hosted rival Mountain View. The Eagles were dealt a difficult blow, losing the match 6-13.

The Spartans dominated with an intense offensive strike in the first quarter, scoring five goals.

¨We didn’t come out strong, we took too much time to get going,” junior Jim Hollingworth said. “There wasn’t enough movement on offense and we needed to press them more on defense because they had some good shooters.”

By the end of the second quarter, the Eagles were looking more cohesive as they held the Spartans to only two goals in one quarter.  However, the Spartans resurged after the first half, and scored five more times in the third quarter.

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“The main problems were with our defense,” co-captain senior Bryan Kim said. “We were letting them take whatever outside shots they wanted. We can’t afford that with our young goalie.”

A lot of the issues during the game stemmed from a lack of communication between players.  The Eagles knew that Mountain View would be a dangerous opponent coming in to the game, but had no answer to the onslaught of offensive attacks when playing.

“One of the biggest problems that we had today was … we weren’t playing as a unit, and helping each other out which really hurt us later on in the game,” co-captain senior Montana Goloubef said.

This game has given the team a chance to reassess what they need to focus on in the future,  like the 6 on 5 offense and communication. A 6 on 5 offense refers to when a player is temporarily ejected and the other team has an advantage. The Eagles failed to capitalize on all of the 6 on 5s that they were given in the second quarter.

¨We as a team have a tendency to lose a hard game early in the week, but after learning from our mistakes we pick ourselves up and play with a renewed energy which never fails to surprise me. This team has much to give,” Montana said.

Despite the loss, the Eagles look forward to their game against Palo Alto at Gunn on Thursday, October 2.

“Our team is a very momentum based team,” Bryan said. “If we get ahead we run with it, but if we’re losing we tend to get down on ourselves. We have to keep a cool head and play hard.”

 

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