The boys water polo team prevailed over the Aragon Dons on senior night. Before the game, the team celebrated the seniors with shirts and crowns and shared words appreciating their role on the water polo team.
The Bears started the game with offensive fireworks. Senior Kanoa Lee fired a quick pass to senior Spencer Harding. Harding blasted the ball into the net, opening the scoring less than 30 seconds into the game. The Dons quickly responded with a goal at the far post, evening the score at 1-1.
The first quarter was a competitive back-and-forth affair. Senior Grant Wescott swung the ball to sophomore Chase Wescott, who sank a shot to give M-A a narrow 2-1 lead. However, while trying to stop the counterattack, the Bears conceded a penalty. Aragon swiftly converted, tying the game at 2-2.
Defensively, tight coverage by G. Wescott and Lee caused the Dons to misfire shots. Aragon then fired the ball into the corner to take the lead, 3-2.
The Dons sustained that momentum, creating many chances, all of which were denied by senior goalkeeper Michael Poirier. With 50 seconds left in the quarter, Poirier lobbed it to senior Navid Riahi, who scored to tie the game at 3-3. Aragon quickly responded with a goal in the dying minutes of the first, leaving the Bears trailing 4-3 to end the quarter.
M-A opened the second quarter struggling to gain control. Blocks by G. Wescott and crucial saves by Poirier kept the Bears in the game. Despite the Dons’ early momentum, Harding found space to score off a fast break, leveling the score 4-4 with 5:30 on the clock.
That goal opened the floodgates for a barrage of goals for M-A. C. Wescott crossed it to Riahi in the middle, who unleashed a shot to give the Bears a 5-4 lead. Then, Harding buried a shot in the net to complete his hat trick, and Harding delivered another shot soon after to extend M-A’s advantage to 7-4.
Even after the momentum waned, the Bears’ defense remained stout. Harding forced turnovers to shut down Aragon’s advances. With less than two minutes left in the half, the Dons curled a beautiful shot toward the goal, but Poirier denied Aragon a goal with a leaping save.
After gaining back possession, Riahi gathered the ball in the middle and struck the ball into the net, giving M-A a commanding 8-4 lead with a minute left in the quarter.
The Dons tried to tighten the score, but critical blocks by Lee and Poirier halted any attempts. After a dominating run in the second quarter, the first half ended 8-4 in favor of the Bears.
“I think we played great. I think our offense was constantly scoring goals almost every other possession, and I think our defense really shut them down,” Riahi said.
M-A carried this momentum into the second half, with a tussle in the box earning Riahi a penalty shot. He slotted it smoothly past the Dons’ goalkeeper, extending the Bears’ lead to 9-4.
Aragon answered with a breakaway goal, but M-A retained a comfortable 9-5 advantage with 5:04 remaining. The Dons kept up the pressure with multiple shots that landed just wide.
Senior Ryan Junkin-Pisani placed a pass to G. Wescott, whose attempt was denied by Aragon. Despite this, G. Wescott wrestled the rebound back and scored to further the Bears’ lead to 10-5. The Dons retaliated with a rebound goal of their own, but they still trailed 10-6 with 2:50 left in the quarter.
G. Wescott continued to bombard Aragon with shots from the left side, but they were stifled by the Dons’ goalkeeper. Senior goalkeeper Joseph Tompkins came up with important blocks on Aragon’s counterattack. Within the last few seconds, the Dons attempted to catch Tompkins off guard with a long shot. Still, Tompkins denied their shots to end the third quarter with M-A holding a commanding 10-6 lead.
Aragon began the final quarter fired up, making advancements into M-A territory. However, a crucial steal from Harding set him up one-on-one with the Dons’ goalkeeper, but his attempt was saved. Aragon broke through on the counter, sliding a shot past the Bears to tighten the game 11-7.
Even with this goal, M-A’s momentum proved insurmountable. The Bears immediately fired back with a goal of their own, with G. Wescott slotting it into the bottom corner to increase M-A’s lead to 11-7.
Despite this deficit, the Dons persisted and found open space to fire a rocket. Tompkins made a fantastic save to deny the opportunity, creating space for Lee to draw a foul on the other end. Lee lashed it in the corner, stretching the Bears’ lead to 12-7. Aragon eventually scored to cut their deficit to 12-8.
With the final seconds ticking by, M-A’s defense remained steadfast to secure a 12-8 win on senior night, extending their win streak to three games.
“Going into future years, I’ll miss the seniors. We’ve got 12, and it just brought such culture,” sophomore Johnny Andeen said.
“[I will] probably miss the people, community, mostly the practice after school. [It] kind of gives you a little hangout after school,” Poirier said.
The Bears will travel to play the Archbishop Mitty Monarchs on Friday at 6 p.m.
