The boys’ water polo team fell to the Menlo Knights 4-19 in a vigorous non-league match on Friday night.
The Knights took an early lead from the start of the game, throwing two shots into the net by the two-minute mark. The Bears’ offense persisted with multiple strong six-meter shots from senior and captain Casey Watkins and a blocked backhand from junior Evan ten Vaanholt.
The Knights’ offense piloted the remainder of the quarter with multiple quick shots making it past senior goalkeeper Arman Azadpour. The Knights remained up through the end of the first quarter, leaving the Bears with a large 0-8 deficit.
The Bears’ offense surged in the second quarter, as ten Vaanholt scored with a pass from senior JD Coolican in the first twenty seconds of play. More attempts to advance to the cage from sophomore Bryce Winters and senior Drew Wescott were stunted by Menlo’s defense, giving the Knights a further advantage as they approached halftime with the Bears down 1-13.
“After a very strong first quarter, part of us gave up, which brought the morale and performance down. I let my team down as captain by letting that happen, and I can assure that it will not happen again,” Watkins said.
Within the set, the Bears struggled to gain possession of the ball, leading to two more hasty goals from Menlo. Persisting through the number on the scoreboard, the Bears continued their effort with close shots from freshman Brady Hendricks.
“We had a team talk going into the fourth quarter about energy and playing full effort, so we definitely started to pick it up at the end,” Winters said.
Starting the final quarter, senior JT Anderson began the swim-off for the ball with senior Armin Loftman following close behind. Defensive pressure from the Bears stunted the Knight’s shooting streak, giving the Bears a chance to prove their might on the opposing cage. Two more goals from Winters and ten Vaanholt tripled the Bears’ score from the first quarter, and set them up for sturdy defense against the Knights.
“We had lots of good ball movement and our chemistry in the pool really showed off at the end,” Winters added.
With 33 seconds left on the clock, senior Leonardo Mazzon scored with a pass from Winters from the outside, putting the Bears up a final goal before the buzzer sounded, marking their loss to the Knights.
“That game was not representative of our ability to perform,” Watkins said. “Menlo could have been a competitive game, but it was not. I’m looking forward to working on team building throughout the rest of the season, and that starts with getting to know each other better in and out of the pool.”
The Bears will battle the Carlmont Scots this Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.
