On Wednesday, the boys water polo team lost 16-1 in the second round of the CCS Division 1 playoffs to Archbishop Mitty Monarchs. The Bears won the initial swim-off but struggled to cash it in for a goal. A Mitty fastbreak left junior goalie Arman Azadpour one-on-one, where he made a spectacular save to preserve the tie.
After a close shot by junior Dylan Scirpo as the shot clock expired, Mitty tacked on two early goals bringing the score to 2-0. Mitty drove down again looking to score, but a defensive steal by senior Vaughn Freiermuth halted the attack.
The Bears won the second swim-off; however, officials would give Mitty the ball, setting up another scoring possession for the Monarchs to bring the score to 7-0. Defensive stops by junior Drew Wescott and Scirpo along with huge saves by Azadpour would slow Mitty’s offense until halftime.
The Monarchs opened up the second half with two quick goals. Numerous saves by Mitty’s goalie then prevented a handful of well-placed shots by Scirpo and Wescott from scoring. Mitty added two more goals before the start of the final quarter.
Minutes into the fourth quarter, a steal by senior Charlie Wall set up a fantastic goal by junior Casey Watkins to avoid the shutout. Mitty answered with an entourage of goals, bringing the final score to 16-1.
Reflecting on the season, Watkins said, “It’s obviously not the outcome we hoped for, but we will be better because of it. This is a young team, and experiences like this are important to understand what a championship-caliber team looks like.”
Scirpo also commented on the difference between the teams saying, “I think preparation could have been better for sure. Leading up to this game we didn’t really gameplan for them, something I think is necessary to be competitive with a good team.”
Despite the loss the boys water polo team played hard throughout the whole season and finished with an impressive record of 14-8.
