Noah Jamani
Staff Writer
High expectations and stiff competition: a difficult combination for Mira Costa water polo in its first California Interscholastic Federation match.
Costa’s boys water polo team fell to Corona del Mar, 14-7, at Newport Beach on Nov. 9, ending Costa’s season. Costa struggled on both offense and defense throughout the game, junior goaltender Paul Matt said.
“We played very poorly throughout the whole game,” Matt said. “We were slow to the ball and were outworked both defensively and offensively.”
The Mustangs had a slow start to the game, giving up four goals in the first quarter. Sophomore attacker Clay Allen, however, immediately responded with two goals to cut the lead in half.
“They were all over us, and we turned the ball over and missed shots,” Matt said.
In the second quarter, the Sea Kings added three more goals to take a commanding 7-2 lead. Senior attacker Christian Thornton responded with a late goal in the second quarter, but Corona Del Mar hung on to its four-goal lead going into the half.
“We were sloppy again in the second quarter,” sophomore attacker Colin Le said. “Offensively, we couldn’t generate any chances, and defensively, we were slow to the ball.”
At the start of the third quarter, the Sea Kings scored three quick goals, making the score 10-3. Costa wasn’t going to go down without a fight as sophomore attacker Chris Agliozzo blasted a shot into the net. However, Costa’s momentum did not last, and the Sea Kings responded with two more goals off of turnovers to end the quarter, 12-4.
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“They had possession of the ball longer than we did, and we didn’t put enough pressure on them when they had the ball,” Thornton said.
The final quarter was Costa’s bright spot, with Allen scoring in the opening minutes. Later in the quarter, Agliozzo and Thornton each added a goal, bringing it to 12-5. The Sea Kings came back with two more goals to keep the game out of reach. In the final minutes, Allen and Agliozzo scored, but it was insufficient.
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“We had a strong finish; however, it was not enough,” Le said. “Our offense and defense were stellar in the fourth quarter, but they should have come out when the game initially had started.”
The Mustangs finished their season 20-9 overall and 7-1 in Bay League, tying Palos Verdes for first place in Bay League. After the team’s loss, the Mustangs are looking to rebound this offseason and make CIF next season, Thornton said.
“The season was a big success,” Thornton said. “We made the most of our season, and we’ll definitely be a contender in years to come.”
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