By Kim Ly
In a difficult match this Friday, the boys’ varsity water polo team fell against the Los Alamitos Griffins with a score of 6-20.
The game opened up with high adrenaline from both teams as they hurriedly swam to get possession of the ball. An intense back-and-forth occurred between the teams as the ball constantly switched from the hands of the Barons’ to those of the Griffins’. As the quarter progressed, the Barons made close attempts at the goal but ultimately missed. Ultimately, they weren’t able to get past Los Alamitos’s defense and the quarter ended 0-6.
“We started off well, made a few little mistakes here and there, and Los Al capitalized on all those mistakes,” head coach Kyle Adama said.
Right as the second quarter started, the Barons picked up momentum and scored a point right away. With a clean throw straight to the goal, senior Matthew Edborg scored the Barons’ first point in the 16th minute of the game.
In the 24th minute, senior Kainoa Shintaku threw the ball clean-cut into the goal. Despite this, the Barons were unable to score for the rest of the quarter and it ended 2-10.
As the game proceeded into the third quarter, the Barons attempted to keep up their offense whilst maintaining their defense. Though, it seemed as if for every score that the Barons made, the Griffins countered with many more. Even so, the boys remained strong, and Edborg successfully scored another point in the 37th minute. A mere three minutes later, he scored again, making it 4-16.
As the third quarter continued, the Barons made many more attempts to score a point but were blocked by the Griffins’ goalie. Nevertheless, the Barons were able to keep up a strong defense and prevented the Griffins from scoring any more than one point. The quarter ended with a score of 4-17.
The game began to slow down as it went into the final quarter with both teams seeming a bit haggard.
In the 50th minute, Edborg made a beautiful goal that went right past the Griffins’ defense. A few minutes later, the Barons were given a penalty shot after a Los Alamitos player made a foul, but were blocked.
As the clock ticked down, a wonderful pass made by freshman Nathan Tran to Edborg in the 54th minute scored the Barons their final point; the game ended at 6-20.
Co-captains senior Timothy Thinh and Edborg noted their disappointment with the result of this game.
“Our defense was there along the first half … especially in the first quarter, [though] a lot of the guys started to get tired and just kinda fell off,” Edborg said. “Our offense wasn’t really there the whole game. It was kinda just two or three of us working the whole time and a lot of bad passes.”
Thinh agreed with Edborg’s sentiments in regards to their offense. Despite this, both of them agreed that their defense did well.
“I think our defense really held up on counters and we were able to hold them down,” Thinh said.
Regardless of their disappointment, both captains hope that they will only bounce back stronger in the next game and have a fun season.
“I hope we just finish the season out with all wins because it’s definitely possible and just have a good time,” Thinh said.
