The boys water polo team took down their rival, the Woodside Wildcats, 16-8 on Wednesday afternoon. The game was eagerly awaited due to the Bears’ close past matches with Woodside and because this game would decide the PAL champion.
“Parents talk a lot of trash at the Woodside pool. So last game, when we won in triple overtime, the parents had some stuff to say to us after celebrating, so we had to handle it this time,” senior Bryce Winters said.
After winning the sprint, the Bears instantly began to push the pace on offense with senior Evan Ten Vaanholt scoring a goal just 20 seconds into the game.
Good communication helped the Bears continue to set the tone in the first quarter. Winters asserted dominance by getting through heavy Wildcat defense and scoring twice back-to-back to make it 3-0.
The Bears’ defense, led by junior goalkeeper Michael Poirier, made it impossible for the Wildcats to retaliate, thanks to numerous blocks and smothering intensity that forced shot clock violations.
Poirier had a miraculous save and deep pass to an open junior Navid Riahi, who capitalized with a goal to make it 4-0 with 1:41 left in the first quarter. Woodside struggled to compete with the Bears’ authoritative performance and flawless defense, ending the quarter with M-A leading 4-0.
“First quarter, we shut them out. Four, zero, we absolutely crushed them. And I think from there, they just kind of got butt hurt, and stopped trying because we just blew them out,” junior Spencer Harding said.
Poirier continued to make impressive saves and kept the Bears’ defense afloat. On offense, Winters, after being hit on the arm, scored on a drawn five-meter penalty shot to make it 5-0.
Ten Vaanholt continued the hot streak and found the back of the net with a speedy shot that sailed past the goalkeeper to set the score at 6-0.
Poirier’s defense remained impenetrable, blocking a point-blank penalty shot from the Wildcats that got the crowd on their feet. However, Woodside finally got on the board due to miscommunication from the Bears, setting the score at 6-1 with 2:56 left in the half. Less than 30 seconds after, senior Jack Bullard countered the goal with one of his own, 7-1.
Later into the quarter, Winters had a fiery lob shot, which was quickly followed by a goal from junior Grant Wescott to further increase their lead to 9-1.
The end of the half began to slip away from the Bears, as multiple defensive errors allowed for two more Woodside goals, concluding the half at a score of 9-3.
Woodside carried its momentum into the third quarter, scoring right off the bat on a five-meter penalty shot. Even so, Harding ended the Wildcat’s hot streak with a deep goal that landed in the top right of the cage. Shortly after, Ten Vaanholt followed up with a clear and well-executed shot, 11-4.
The Bears’ lockdown defense persisted with a steal by Harding and multiple saved shots by Tompkins.
As the clock continued to wind down, the Bears stayed relentless offensively, with both Winters and Ten Vaanholt scoring powerful goals to push the tally to 13-4 at the end of the quarter.
The fourth and final quarter started slowly for the Bears, with numerous Woodside goals that chipped away at M-A’s lead, bringing the score to 13-7. Ten Vaanholt eventually silenced the Wildcats crowd with a successful penalty shot to make it 14-7 with 3:46 left in the game. Junior Konoa Lee killed all hopes of a Woodside comeback with a successful shot attempt. Despite the Wildcats’ retaliation with a goal of their own, it was to no avail as the game was nearing its end.
Ten Vaanholt scored once more, concluding the game with a decisive 16-8 M-A victory, and allowing the Bears to claim the top spot in PAL.
“Today was one of our best games of the season. One of the things we struggled with often has been keeping both good defense and good offense simultaneously, and we were able to manage that pretty well,” Tompkins said. “Woodside is pretty much our biggest rival, so beating them feels good.”
The Bears will return to the pool soon to play in CCS as they await their seeding.
