By Ryan Erickson
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa boys water polo team needed a victory to stay in the race for the Bay League title. On Nov. 2, they faced off against a tough opponent, the Peninsula Panthers, who hoped to spoil the Mustangs’ Bay League championship opportunity.
Fortunately for Mira Costa, the resiliency that the Mustangs have shown all year paid off in a double-overtime game, in which the Mustangs came from behind and won with a final score of 7-6.
The competition was high throughout the game, and neither team fell behind by more than one point. The Mustangs took the lead, however, with a goal by senior Jake Miller during the last 20 seconds of the game. This score would have decided the game, but the things turned around when the Panthers scored a goal to tie it up, sending the game into overtime.
The first overtime quickly continued into a second overtime as neither team was able to muster up a goal in the first period. The game took a dramatic turn when Peninsula scored to take a one-goal lead over the Mustangs. Then, senior Julian Monk came into the game and proved to be the much-needed spark to the Mira Costa offense when he scored a game-tying and then a game-winning goal.
“Someone needed to step up today and get us a win; today I was able to help the team win. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into CIF,” Monk said.
Both Miller and Monk contributed to the Mustangs’ win. Miller scored three goals in the game and raised his season total to 80 goals. Monk, in one period, scored two goals to save the game for the Mustangs.
The Mustangs’ record now stands at 19-7 for the season and 6-1 in the Bay League. The team played Redondo on Nov. 4 but the scores were unavailable at time of publication. Information on the next CIF game is to be announced.
“I thought it was great for our team to get a high-tension, overtime game before CIF starts, just to be familiar with that experience,” Miller said.
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