Story by Rafa Estolano-Sridharan
Staff Writer
Photos by Kaitlyn Lee
Staff Photographer
Boys water polo suffered a 9-13 defeat to the John Muir Mustangs during their Aug. 28 home game. Despite a competitive first quarter, the Mustangs managed to widen the gap and the Tigers were not able to catch up.
The first quarter started with a few plays from South Pas, but Muir managed to score a quick goal, putting the score at 0-1. After some back and forth between the Tigers and Mustangs, Muir made an attempt at the goal, which missed, but the ball was swiftly pushed into the goal by a Mustang player, leaving South Pas down two points with a score of 0-2.
The Tigers scored their first goal after senior Theo Hilger made a pass to junior Jackson Lesnever, who then got the ball to senior Ferruccio Mastromatteo. With a well-placed shot, Mastromatteo was able to bring the two teams slightly closer with a score of 1-2.
After a play between Hilger, Mastromatteo, and senior Kenta Funahashi, the Mustangs retook possession of the ball and scored on the Tigers, taking the score to 1-3. Near the end of the first quarter, senior Jackson Wingard connected with Funahashi to score another goal for the Tigers, 2-3.
The second quarter began with a goal attempt by Muir, which was deftly shot down by senior goalie Caleb Dephouse. This was followed by another, more successful attempt at the goal from a Mustang player, which brought the score to 2-4.
The Tigers repeatedly tried to score, but failed each time. The Mustangs were able to score twice more before the end of the quarter, making the score 2-6.
South Pasadena started the third quarter in a rough spot. The Tigers continued to fall behind with two more goals from the Mustangs, which put the score at 2-8.
Shortly afterward, Lesnever made a pass to junior Diego Pizarro, who made a quick attack on the goal and got the Tigers to their third point, 3-8. After a penalty from Muir, the Tigers were awarded a penalty shot. Wingard made quick work of Muir’s goalie, scoring a fourth goal for the Tigers. This was followed by a Muir goal, which brought the score to 4-9.
South Pasadena scored the last goal of the third quarter. After a miss from Wingard, Pizarro made his second goal of the game with the score at 5-9.
The Tigers started the fourth quarter determined to close the tightening gap between themselves and the Mustangs. Towards the beginning of the last quarter, the Mustangs scored another goal, making the score 5-10. They attempted another shot but were intercepted by Pizarro.
Muir was awarded a penalty shot. The ensuing goal put the score at 5-11. This was followed by two more Mustang goals, 5-13.
Determined to bridge the gap, the Tigers worked overtime to score another goal. After a pass from Pizarro to Wingard, Wingard was able to get past Muir’s goalie, scoring the team’s sixth goal and bringing the score to 6-13.
Before a long timeout, the Tigers were able to score another goal, 7-13. After the game resumed, Funahashi made a successful attempt at the goal, which took the score to 8-13.
With just under two minutes remaining in the final quarter, the Tigers were able to score one last point. Following a pass from Hilger, Funahashi scored yet another goal, putting the score at 9-13.
The Tigers made a valiant effort at a comeback but were ultimately unsuccessful, losing to the Muir Mustangs with a final score of 9-13.
“That’s a tough loss. You know that’s a team we should be beating. We know a lot of the players on the team. We know how they play, and we analyzed that before the game. And we still made mistakes that we shouldn’t have made,” Lesnever said.
Boys water polo’s next game will be at home on Sept. 3 at 4 p.m. against Schurr.
