Noah Jamani
Staff Writer
A buzzer sounding and the opposing crowd cheering: an unfortunate memory was made in Mira Costa’s boys water polo game against Palos Verdes High School.
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The boys water polo team narrowly lost to Palos Verdes, 7-6, in an away game on Tuesday. It was the first time in four years the Mustangs had lost to their long-standing water polo rival, the Sea Kings.
“I think we played poorly, and the refereeing was not ideal,” sophomore driver Chris Agliozzo said. “We were slow to the ball and let them get too many chances.”
The Mustangs did not start the game strong, giving up four goals in the first quarter. Senior attacker Christian Thornton responded with a late goal after a Palos Verdes’ turnover.
“We had a slow start,” junior goalie Paul Matt said. “They dominated the possession of the ball, and we turned the ball over too many times.”
In the second quarter, both defenses were solid, and neither team was able to generate any offense. Palos Verdes hung on to its 4-1 lead going into half.
“Our defense in this quarter was really solid,” Matt said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t capitalize on our multiple chances on offense.”
Photos Mira Costa Mustangs versus Palos Verdes
At the start of the third quarter, PV added another goal, making the score 5-1. However, Costa wasn’t going to go down without a fight, and Thornton managed to score his second goal later in the quarter.
“We had our chances this [third] quarter, and they did too,” sophomore attacker Colin Le said. “We missed the net one too many times.”
Palos Verdes scored twice to start the fourth quarter. Senior attacker Ty Panitz then responded with two quick goals. In the final minutes, Agliozzo scored two goals, but the game ended 7-6 in favor of PV.
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“We had a strong finish, but unfortunately, it was not enough,” Agliozzo said. “Our offense came alive that last quarter, but it needed to have come earlier in the game.”
The Mustangs, 13-7 overall and 5-1 in Bay League, played at West Torrance High School in a Bay League game on Thursday, but the results were unavailable at the time of publication.
“We need to play as a team and play our best water polo to be successful Thursday,” Le said. “We can’t underestimate them, and we need to outwork them.”
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