On Tuesday, the boys water polo team took down league-rival Hillsdale Knights 18-12 in their season opener.
Coming out of the gate, the Bears played strong defense, keeping the Knights scoreless for the entire first quarter. The defense was centered around an impressive performance by junior goalkeeper Arman Azadapour.
Senior Vaughn Friermuth also limited the impact of Hillsdale’s leading scorer with physical defense in front of the goal. “I made sure to grab as much of his suit as I could while maintaining my distance so he couldn’t get my suit,” Friermuth said.
While the Bears’ offense started out slow, senior Zachary Powell’s goal from the low wing with two minutes remaining in the first quarter followed by junior Dylan Scripo’s buzzer-beating lob on the next possession catapulted the offense. Dominance in the middle of the pool by Friermuth and junior captain Casey Watkins helped the Bears take an 8-4 lead going into halftime.
Friermuth and Watkins carried that momentum into the third quarter as they continued to pile on goals. Their continuous, strong defense against Hillsdale’s star players gave the Bears a comfortable 15-7 lead with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Friermuth attributed their defensive success to their team’s strategy. “As a team, we tried to isolate their best player and force their backup players to take more shots,” he said.
Despite the score, the Knights refused to give up, scoring three consecutive goals on two power-play opportunities in the fourth quarter. However, a big one-on-one save from Azadapour and a nifty, quick-handed goal by Scripo shut down the Knights before they gained too much momentum.
The game ended with the Bears winning 18-12. The team hopes this strong season opener is a sign of things to come. They anticipate that the Knights will be their main competitor for first place in the league this year. Senior Charlie Wall said, “I think that we have a good chance to win our league and make a run in division 1 of CCS this year.” The Bears have a strong core of seniors surrounded by an experienced group of juniors.
The Bears are 1-0 on the season and will play again this Thursday against Pioneer High School at 4 p.m. in Spieker Pool.
