Julie King, Photographer
Wade Sias, Staff Writer
After a tough start to the Sunset league the boys’ water polo team has clinched its first victory. It came this last Wednesday October 26th over the Marina Vikings with a commanding score of 14-8.
The Barons worst habit this season has been to concede early and usually quite drastically in the first quarter, forcing them to fight large deficits all game long. Against Marina however the Barons were able to come out on fire and to net 2 goals in the first couple minutes of the game. The early goals changed the complexion of the struggling Barons and they were able to relax and dictate the play. With Joe Romo (’12) sidelined with an arm injury, young Chad Halstad (’14) worked between the floating pipes this game; and came up with a huge early save toward the end of the first quarter allowing the Barons to keep the lead.
The first quarter ended 3-1 Shawn Carroll (’12), Dalton Kenvick (’14), and Nick Frens (’12) the goal scorers. The second quarter was loaded with goals and the Barons kept up the scoring. After and early Frens goal Marina got their second but the Barons responded with a resounding three goals by Pace getting 2 and Kenvick notching his second of the game. As the Barons continued to dominate the second, the boys traded two more goals after some unlucky penalties to end the half up 8-4.
Marina however did not go down easily and scored 2 early in the third quarter closing the gap. Customary of this new found might in the Barons offense though, the boys in blue responded with 3 of their own, Pace completing his hat trick on the counter attack. By the last frame the Barons were up 11-7. In the fourth the Barons continued to dominate the game and Pace posted two more to finish with an outstanding 5 goal effort. Alex Kryger (’12) netted the final goal for the Barons in the last minute of the game to finish 14-8, completing their first victory in league and one of the strongest performances all season.
Boys water polo took a very strong step in the right direction this game going 1-3 in league. They were swimming harder and making there shots this game as Pace can attest. The boys gained confidence with the strong start and did not let anything get in their way. The start was the key to this game and one of the main reasons why the Barons have not been able to win more games this year. Next week is against Edison, who have recently lost to Huntington Beach High School, on Wednesday night and let’s hope the boys and blue come out with another strong start and unplug the chargers during bell week.
