This Tuesday afternoon Boys’ water polo triumphed against the Lynbrook Vikings, 14-10. As Paly continues on with leagues, they are preparing for upcoming games as well as CCS.
“We beat [Lynbrook] by a lot the first time in leagues, so I was hoping we would come out and do the same thing,” Kian McHugh (‘14) said. “I’m hoping that we cruise through leagues without losing a single game and then make our way into the league tournament… and head into CCS with high hopes.”
The game started up with a fast pace after Lynbrook scored the first goal. The Paly Vikings soon caught up, however, and in a few minutes took a 4-1 lead with goals by Omri Newman (‘14), JJ Kadifa (‘14) and Sam Kelley (‘14). With pressure on Paly’s goal by Lynbrook, goalie Jake Weinstein (‘14) continuously blocked shots and made countless saves. Another goal, made by McHugh, brought the boys’ first quarter to an end leading 5-1.
Lynbrook began to catch up in the second quarter. After a couple of breakaways, Lynbrook brought the score to 5-3. Although failed shot attempts by Paly stopped them from scoring as much, Kelley was able to score with an assist from Andrew Jozefov (‘17). Goals by Seth Alston (‘15) and McHugh, as well as another goal by Lynbrook, ended the second quarter 8-4.
The second half began with two goals by Lynbrook, tying the game 7-7. Ethan Look (‘14) and Newman combined efforts to bring the Paly back with a 9-7 lead over Lynbrook. Kelley scored two goals in the third quarter keeping the Paly ahead. After a previous missed attempt, Scott Powell (‘14) scored a goal for the Paly Vikes with six minutes left in the half.
The boys practiced defensively to prepare how to defend Lynbrook’s strongest players.
“We practiced a lot of defense in preparation like double teaming one player,” Will Mendenhall (‘14) said.
Coach Brandon Johnson also talked about the importance of defending against Lynbrook’s strong players.
“They had one guy who does pretty much everything for them, so we had one guy pretend to be him… during practice,” Johnson said.
Mendenhall missed a five meter penalty in the third quarter. Lynbrook then found the back of the net for two more goals, bringing the score to 13-9.
The fourth quarter sprint was won by Paly, but resulted in a missed shot by Hans Usman (‘15). An attempted shot by Lynbrook was rejected by goalie, Luke Schroder (‘15).
“We finished it in the end but we didn’t play as well as we could have,” Mendenhall said. “But it was nice to clinch the W.”
Mendenhall scored the fourteenth goal for Paly in the last two minutes. Although Schroder let in a final goal against Lynbrook, the game still ended with a 14-10 win for Paly.
As CCS approaches, Johnson hopes that the team will continue to get better.
“[I want to] keep improving every game and just build for CCS, because that’s when we have to be playing our best,” he said.
The boys’ team is preparing to take on Los Gatos for the third time this Thursday at home.
