Varsity Boys Water Polo beat Wilcox High School 13-11 on Thursday, Sept. 21. With neither team leading by more than one point at a time, MVHS and WHS were neck and neck during the first half, each finishing with seven points. Tied once again with three minutes left on the clock in the final quarter, senior Leo Matsumoto and junior Owen Pow each scored a goal, closing out the team’s sixth game of the season with a final score of 13-11 and bringing its league record to 4-2-0.
Despite coming off of two straight losses, having consistently defeated WHS in years prior, MVHS was initially confident the game would be an easy win. However, sophomore and driver Suhan Hajela admits that the team was taken by surprise when WHS exhibited a sudden spike in improvement, bolstered by the addition of new and talented players. Even so, once the team was able to analyze WHS’ game style, Hajela says it improved the team’s defensive communication, effectively regaining control of the match.
“The same guy just kept on scoring over and over again,” Hajela said. “We realized what he was doing and we were able to talk it out and figure out what to do in order to stop him. We were able to guard him pretty well once we started communicating better and faster.”
Hajela credits the mid-match adjustment to Head Coach Lauren Tang’s strategic guidance during halftime. In her halftime pep talk, Tang recognized the tied score as a fresh start, urging players to improve their communication and teamwork in the second half.
“I told them it’s a 0-0 game: we get a clean slate,” Tang said. “Talk to each other and work with one another. If not everyone knows what’s going on in the pool, then we can’t run a cohesive game; we’re not a cohesive team if everyone’s not on the same page. I think they really took to that and started talking to each other making sure everyone knew where everyone was. Everyone knew where the ball was, and they really turned it up. I’m very proud of them.”
