By Liah Mckee
The Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) boys’ varsity water polo team battled hard against the Edison High School (EHS) Chargers on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at Corona del Mar High School, but were ultimately defeated with an ending score of 3-10.
Using their quick thinking and powerful plays, the Chargers rapidly took the lead with several close goals. The Barons struggled to keep up with the aggressive play-style of their opponents in the first half of the game.
Junior Nathan Tran was a key player, taking up every opportunity to steal the ball from the Chargers, holding up notable blocks and putting up a powerful defense.
With less than 10 seconds left in the second quarter, the Chargers took advantage of the time and scored a goal, pumping the score to 0-4 by the end of the first half.
Coach Kyle Adama highlighted the players that led their team during the game.
“We had a lot of crucial blocks out of the cage from Josh,” Adama said. “Defensively, we had [junior] Daigo [Fujita] and [senior] Ruben [Andelin] helping us out, and [senior] Alex [Tran] as well.”
In spite of their slow start, the Barons kept their eyes on the ball, gradually catching the drift of the game.
Both offense and defense performed well throughout the game, but showed a common trend of missing goals or blocking by such a close distance. This resulted in a number of lost points but the Barons didn’t give up just yet.
“We’re still working through it, not getting our heads held down by the going down of a few goals. They kept their energy going through the game.” Adama said.
The Barons really started showing off their potential in the fourth quarter of the game. Halfway through the quarter, sophomore Ryan Zarzana scored the first goal of the game, with a powerful and confident throw. In total, the Barons were able to earn three points in the last quarter, and the third and final point was earned by junior Carter Pitt with less than 30 seconds left on the clock.
Although the Barons saw some success in the last few minutes of the game, Adama pointed out things that could have been done differently to change the outcome.
“Putting our shots away. I feel like we missed quite a few, or put it right at the goalie,” Adama said. “Our selection could have been a little bit better.”
FVHS boys’ varsity water polo team will compete against the Marina Vikings’ at Edison High School on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m. for senior night.
