The boys water polo team defeated the Sequoia Ravens 10-8 in their game on Wednesday evening.
M-A started strong by winning the sprint, but struggled to sink any of their initial goal attempts. Even so, the Bears were able to regain possession, and junior Navid Riahi capitalized on this by scoring their first goal just three minutes into the game.
“We made a strong game plan on how to contain their best players and minimise open looks and easy goals, and instead force them to make hard passes or shoot low-quality shots,” senior Jack Bullard said.
M-A continued to build momentum, with Riahi scoring again a minute later and building a quick 2-0 lead.
The Bears’ defense remained on point with junior goalkeeper Michael Poirier dominating the cage, refusing any shot attempts from finding a way in. Soon after, senior Bryce Winters sunk a goal into the back of the net, making the score 3-0 with three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The Ravens started to warm up, scoring their first goal with two minutes left. However, M-A quickly bounced back, with Bullard scoring their fourth goal of the game. The first quarter ended with the Bears holding a comfortable 4-1 lead.
M-A found themselves with many scoring opportunities at the beginning of the second quarter, but were unable to hit any of them. Soon after, the Ravens got possession and scored off a soft lob to the upper corner, making the score 4-2.
The Bears successfully bounced back with Winters slinging the ball over to junior Spencer Harding, who scored a powerful outside shot.
The Ravens continued to make moves on offense, but M-A remained strong defensively and found another opportunity to score, with a shot by Riahi skipping off the water and into the cage.
The Bears held their ground on defense with multiple blocks and steals, but the Ravens still managed to find a way through and score, dwindling M-A’s lead to 6-3.
Once again, the Bears retaliated quickly. They remained in possession, and Bullard sank a shot into the right side with one minute left in the quarter. Continuing to press hard on defense, the Bears blocked Sequoia’s subsequent attempts and ended the second quarter with a 7-3 lead.
“In the second half, we were letting up just because we started to get tired. We wanted to save our energy,” Riahi said.
Sequoia was ambitious for a comeback entering the second half, and despite the Bears’ defense staying aggressive, they still managed to plant a goal with 5:13 on the clock, shortening M-A’s lead to 7-4.
The quarter was slow to progress with quick changes of possession and few goals due to intense defensive pressure on both ends. Breaking the dry spell was Bullard as he sank a goal from the far right corner with 2:58 left in the quarter. However, close behind was the Ravens as they retaliated with another goal just 30 seconds later.
The Bears’ defense dominated, forcing the Ravens to call a timeout to recollect with 24 seconds on the clock. Back in play, Poirier blocked a final Sequoia goal to close out the quarter with M-A holding a steady 8-6 lead.
The Ravens started with possession again after the initial sprint, and the teams fought head-to-head, but neither made successful shot attempts for the first few minutes. The Bears called a timeout with 4:08 on the clock to set up for the final moments of the game.
The Bears’ offense stayed on top with Riahi scoring, but the Ravens retaliated again, sinking a shot with 2:39 left and the score now 9-7. Energy across the deck rang out with the Bears hoping to maintain their lead and the Ravens aspiring for a comeback, leading to a lively couple minutes.
Winters extended the Bears’ lead, sinking the final home goal of the game with 2:13 left. Sequoia fought hard, but only successfully landed one more goal with just 19 seconds left. The Bears stalled for the final seconds, and the game ended 10-8 with the Bears victorious.
“Sequoia only scored on us because of a few minor mistakes, but other than that, we played strong and want to keep that energy for the rest of the season,” junior Kanoa Lee said.
The Bears will face the Burlingame Panthers away on Monday at 6 p.m.
