By Emily Chan
Fountain Valley High School Boys’ Water Polo (0-3) played a tough match against the Western High School Pioneers (5-3) on Oct. 22 at their second to last game of the season. The game, which was also the Fountain Valley High School ASB’s Game of the Week, ended in a 5-8 defeat for the Barons.
The Barons started off strong, making a clean first goal just 11 seconds into the first period.
As the clock ticked on, senior Owen Nacke and junior Trevor Vorhees were quick to defend against the Pioneers’ advances toward the Barons’ goal. Junior goalie Eli Merril then secured the ball, making a pivotal pass back to Nacke who passed the ball to sophomore Bobby Watkins. Bobby Watkins proceeded to make a pass to senior Billy Watkins who ultimately failed in his attempt at a side goal.
After both teams made failed attempts to score, the ball fell into the hands of the Pioneers. Although the Barons fought hard to defend against the Pioneer offenders, the Pioneers prevailed in tying up the score with three minutes left on the clock.
Just 50 seconds later, Nacke achieved the Barons’ second goal. Both Merril and the Pioneer goalie prevented any following goals, ending the first quarter with a score of 2-1.
Roughly four minutes into the second quarter, the Pioneers made another goal. Multiple attempts on either side to score were made, but were ultimately fruitless. As the quarter came to an end, tension between the two teams only seemed to rise.
“[Our mindset going into this game was] really focusing on the things that we’ve been trying to work on the whole season, like good passes, communication, [and] taking good shots,” head coach Kai Fujita said.
At the start of the third quarter, the Barons and Pioneers both exchanged goals. With 4 minutes and 16 seconds left, Nacke and Billy Watkins took turns with the ball. Billy Watkins was able to make a crucial assist back to Nacke in the center who made a flawless shot into the right corner of the goal. Despite the Barons’ efforts to defend against the opposing offenders, the Pioneers succeeded in securing another goal.
A pivotal moment for the Western Pioneers, they proceeded to score three consecutive goals.
Moving into the last quarter of the game with a score of 4-7, the pressure was on for the Barons. Nacke made multiple attempts to generate another goal with the help of Vorhees’s assists, but was stopped in his tracks by the Pioneer defenders.
In the last two minutes of the game, both teams broke the formerly established stalemate by exchanging a final set of goals. In the last 46 seconds of the game, the Pioneers swiftly moved up the pool, but Merril was quick to thwart off any additional attempts by the opposing team to score. Both teams exhibited great defense until the buzzer marked the end of the last quarter, ending with a score of 5-8.
In spite of the team’s loss, Fujita still has hope to close out the season with a bang. Their team’s ability to work with each other, regardless of the pain, is what keeps their bond strong.
“They improve each other throughout the season, pushing each other and getting each other better,” Fujita said. “I think that’s the biggest thing, even though we might lose some games, they show promise.”
