In their first league game of the season, the varsity boys’ water polo team beat the Woodside Wildcats 12-10 on Monday night.
The Bears, led by seniors and captains Drew Wescott and Casey Watkins, had an aggressive start of the ball. In the first quarter, Watkins and junior Bryce Winters each scored once, and junior Evan ten Vaanholt scored twice.
Woodside was barely able to get past the Bears’ impeccable defense, only scoring a single point before the first quarter ended.
Unfortunately, the Bears’ defense let up during the second quarter, and after senior JD Coolican scored with 5:00 left in the second quarter, the Wildcats were able to make four unanswered points throughout the remainder of the half, tying the game 5-5 with 1:00 left in the half.
“During the first quarter, we did really well; we came out there and were shooting good shots. Second quarter we started falling apart, we need to work on our press defense,” Wescott said.
The Bears, however, were determined to finish the half in front, and with ten seconds left, ten Vaanholt completed his hat trick by finding the back of the net, putting the Bears up 6-5 and ending the half.
“As a team, we worked really well passing-wise. We were able to swing the ball and get some good catch-and-shoot shots off, which were really beneficial to our team with the press defense on us,” ten Vaanholt said.
Coming into the second half, the Bears had a surge of momentum on both offense and defense. With 6:33 left in the third quarter, Watkins caught the Wildcats goalie off guard and fired it home for his second point of the game, increasing the Bears lead 7-5.
Ten Vaanholt continued his scoring streak adding a fourth goal a minute later.
The Wildcats had enough and quickly responded with two goals of their own to tighten the game 8-7.
Without letting the Wildcats gain more momentum, ten Vaanholt quickly pounced on another opportunity to score and racked up his fifth goal of the game.
Less than a minute later, he earned his second hat trick with a swift lob into the back of the net, expanding the Bears’ lead 10-7.
“Evan had a phenomenal game, he had seven out of our 12 goals tonight, and he’s a really vital part of our team,” said Wescott.
The Bears’ defense also stepped up, with senior goalkeeper Arman Azadpour blocking shot after shot to keep the Bears ahead.
“We got a new JV coach this year who’s a professional player in Barcelona and a goalie, and he’s helped me so much,” said Azadpour.
With 35 seconds left in the third quarter, senior Alex Alburger added to the Bears’ lead with a chip shot to the corner, ending the quarter 11-7.
In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats dug deep to stay in the game. After they made three consecutive shots reducing the Bears’ lead to 11-10, it seemed like a comeback was within reach.
With 2:31 left in the match, ten Vaanholt crushed any remaining momentum in the Wildcats with his seventh goal of the night, ending the game 12-10 for the Bears.
The Bears will face the Menlo Knights at home this Friday at 7:00 p.m.
