The boys varsity water polo team beat Homestead High School 15-7 today, September 13. The team took advantage of their lead throughout the game by giving new varsity members playing time and finished with a comfortable win.
Los Altos scored seven goals during the first quarter. Team captain senior Ian McColl was on fire, scoring four consecutive goals in four minutes, allowing Los Altos to pull ahead significantly.
“There was no one who could get on Ian,” junior Ryan Seltzer said. “Ian just shut them down. The goals were very well executed.”
This advantage allowed Los Altos to have a safe lead as Homestead began to accumulate points throughout the following quarters. Ryan made it clear, however, that the team’s defense today was far better than that on Tuesday’s game against Gunn High School.
“We did a very good job on the press defense,” junior Surya Ram said. “[We] made the other team work for even simple passes.”
Although Homestead accumulated goals, Los Altos stayed far ahead and never allowed Homestead to get any closer than five points. Because the Eagles took such a commanding lead against Homestead early on, many players that are new to the varsity roster were able to get playing time time.
“We tried to extend our lead as much as possible to enable the newer players to play for longer amounts of time,” Surya said.
Ryan also said that the game was a great opportunity to get the newer players game time because the match was not as stressful as those against Saint Francis and Bellarmine will be.
Seniors Paul Bergevin and Mark Schreiber and juniors Ryan and Jordan Stout each scored one goal during the game. Ian pulled away with six goals total and junior Sam Lisbonne racked up four.
Although this game was a victory, the team is setting their sights on next Thursday’s home game against its rival, the Mountain View High School team, which the Eagles defeated last year.
“Mountain View is coming after us,” Ryan said, “They’ve been video taping our games. If we play our best we can beat them…There is a lot riding on that game.”
Hopes are high for the varsity team as it starts its competitive schedule this weekend in Santa Barbara, where the Eagles will face off against Southern California’s best water polo teams. This should prepare the team for next week’s big game against Mountain View. Today may have been an easy win, but the team is prepared to face much more challenging opponents in the coming season.
[Photos by Ciera Pasturel]
