The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Boys Water Polo Suffers Narrow Loss in Electrifying Game

Boys water polo suffered a close 7-9 loss to Mountain View in an electrifying game at home yesterday, October 24. Los Altos went into the game determined to play a strong game against its rival, who came out on top in the two teams’ last encounter 14-7.

“Rival games against Mountain View are always the best games,” junior Dane Grosvenor said. “There’s nothing like playing good friends and/or enemies from across town. This match came with more intensity, passion and heart compared to others.”

Despite their determination and crowd of supporters, the Eagles let the Spartans obtain and uphold a considerable edge in the first half. Ineffective defense and shooting prevented Los Altos from scoring, while Mountain View scored three goals with impunity.

“We weren’t playing that great of a defense and we weren’t shooting well,” junior Bryan Kim said. “We just didn’t press them and…we were shooting so that the goalie didn’t have to put in any effort to block our shots.”

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In the second quarter, senior Surya Ram scored the Eagles’ first goal of the night, but the Spartans matched this goal with four of their own. What came in the next quarter was as thrilling as unexpected.

“We weren’t fully in gear in the beginning, but by half we were starting to pick things up and really get our defense together,” Dane said.

Although the second half began with a discouraging 1-7 score, the Eagles came out roaring at every turnover and began to gain momentum. Though Los Altos saw its top scorer, captain senior Sam Lisbonne, ejected from the game in the third, other players on the team saw it as an opportunity to step up. With the loss of the teammate, Bryan initiated the Eagles’ aggressive second-half rally.

“I felt like I needed to step up,” Bryan said. “I was super excited after getting the first goal and the momentum from that gave our team the energy for the other goals.”

Bryan and seniors Jordan Stout and Ryan Seltzer scored in rapid succession, with two goals in the third quarter and four in the fourth quarter. Feeding off of the rally’s spirited energy, the team was able to intensify their performance for the remainder of the game.

“We all stepped up and came back with ferocity once Sam got [ejected from the game] and Bryan started the fire with the starting goal to that comeback,” Dane said. “The third quarter was just an all around great display of getting ourselves finally and fully into the game.”
With a close 7-8 score towards the end of the last quarter, the energy of the cheers of the crowd crescendoed into a roar, motivating Los Altos in the final, crucial minutes of the game.

“The crowd of people really pumped us up and it was like no other game we’ve experienced this season,” Dane said. “We thank everyone for coming and cheering us on.”

The Eagles had nearly a minute left to even the score, but an untimely turnover and a last minute goal by Mountain View with 12 seconds left brought the score to 7-9 and the game to a disappointing end.

Although the game was a disappointing loss for the Eagles, the team’s energy and determination during the game and particularly the second half may be a prelude to what is to come in the league playoffs and championships and beyond. The team remains hopeful for upcoming games and the league championships.

“In these last couple games we’re going to have to really step it up, but league championships are without a doubt possible for us,” Dane said. “I do think that we can come with a fire that could possibly bring us to play in the finals….We have it in us, it just always comes down to whether or not we execute properly.”

The Eagles’ next home game is against Palo Alto High School on October 31.

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