It’s back to school, so it’s back into the pool for the boys’ water polo teams at San Marino High and Flintridge Prep as the squads faced off in both of the group’s season openers.
The game was ripe with offense, but in the end, it was a hot start by visiting San Marino that propelled the Titans to a 20-15 victory over the host Wolves in nonleague action Aug. 23.
“It was good to see the boys finally in the water,” San Marino coach Robert Zirovich said. “It was good to see them get some competition, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. Offensively, we’ve got a lot of tools. Defensively, we can’t let in 15 goals.”
Flintridge Prep scored first just 42 seconds into the contest when Charlie Simonian put the ball into the back of the net for the Wolves’ first goal of the season. However, San Marino scored the next six goals to lead 6-1 after the opening quarter.
It started with Joaquin Diego Garcia’s goal with 5:53 to go in the opening corner to tie the score.
With 3:24 remaining, Titans junior Nathan Chan slapped in a rebound from a saved long-distance shot to pull ahead. Howard Huang added another 45 seconds later when he unleashed a powerful shot for a goal. With 1:54 to go in the opening quarter, Garcia took a long outlet pass and scored in transition, making it 4-1. San Marino scored two more goals in the final 1:06, the first was by Garcia when he stole a long outlet pass by the Wolves, swam nearly the length of the pool and scored. The second was scored by Chan in transition for the junior’s second goal of the period.
“We played a good defensive quarter and got up on the counterattack,” Zirovich said. “That was great to see, but we need to be able to do that for four quarters, not just one.”
The margin of five goals after the first period would match the final margin, as the teams scored 14 goals apiece the rest of the way.
Garcia and Huang led the way with six goals each for San Marino. Junior Nathan Chan and Daniel Chen each netted three goals, while freshman Nathan Chan had two.
“I didn’t do the best, but I think I did all right for my first game,” the freshman Nathan Chan said.
Flintridge Prep was paced by Simonian with six goals. Carson Ho, Ridley Tolleson, Carter Morrell and Kai Timbadia each had two goals. Elliot Oakes had one score.
“We’re talented. We’re well-rounded and this is just the beginning mark,” Wolves coach Andrew Phillips said.
Flintridge Prep would outscore the Titans 6-4 in the second quarter. The Titans opened the frame with two goals as freshman Nathan Chan scored his first goal as a Titan off transition. Garcia then also scored in transition to push the advantage to 8-1. After that, Flintridge Prep scored six of the next seven goals. Ho scored the first goal of the second for Prep, followed by a goal from Simonian off a pass from Morrell and then a skip-shot goal by Tolleson. Titan junior Nathan Chan ended the Wolves’ scoring run with a goal on a touch shot, but Flintridge Prep kept going with goals by Simonian, Oakes and another by Simonian with just two seconds to go. However, that was enough time for Chen, who fired a shot from the middle of the pool behind a wall of teammates that found the back of the cage to make it 10-7 at the break.
San Marino won the third period 6-3. The Titans scored the first two goals when Huang rocketed a shot through a number of defenders’ arms 47 seconds in, soon followed by a backhand shot for a score by Chen. Prep put in the next two, with one by Simonian and a lob shot by Ho. The Titans came right back with a successful five-meter shot by Chen and then a goal from Garcia. Morrell scored off a rebound with 1:10 to go, after which the visitors netted the final two of the period, both by Huang, and it was a 16-10 lead for the Titans after three.
Flintridge Prep took the final period 5-4, but never threatened the Titan lead. Prep scored first, followed by two from the Titans. Timbadia then scored two in a row before assisting Morrell on another to cut the Titan lead to 18-14. But Huang soon after made a five-meter try with 2:41 left to break the run. Each team scored once more to set the final margin.
“We went up a good lead in the first quarter. We did let them come back in the second and third quarter, but we pulled it out with a win,” Chen said. “It was a nice game overall.”
POLY TOURNAMENT
The Wolves competed in the Pasadena Polytechnic Tournament last weekend and finished with a 2-2 record after beating La Serna High of Whittier, 16-10, in their tournament finale last Saturday as Tolleson racked up a game-high seven goals. Ho and Morrell each registered three goals, Simonian scored a pair of goals and Oakes had one goal.
Flintridge Prep concluded pool play with a 13-8 loss against Crescenta Valley High of La Crescenta. Tolleson tallied four goals, Morrell recorded two goals, and Timbadia and Simonian each added one goal.
The Wolves ended the first day of tournament play with a 12-5 loss against Sunny Hills High of Fullerton last Friday. Oakes and Simonian each scored twice while Morrell had one goal.
Flintridge Prep defeated La Cañada 11-7 in its tournament opener last Friday. Simonian amassed a game-high eight goals while Tolleson finished with three goals.
The Wolves (2-3 overall) will host South Pasadena for a nonleague game today at 4 p.m. before visiting La Cañada the following day. Next week, Flintridge Prep has a road contest at Temple City followed by a home matchup against St. Francis High.
— Sebastian Moore contributed to this report.
First published in the August 31 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
