It was a nail-biting Tuesday afternoon, as the Paly Boys’ Water Polo Team defeated Lynbrook with a score of 11-8.

The game started off slow for the Vikings, as they started off the quarter down by two points.  

However, this did not affect the Vikings; they had a total of 8 shots in the first quarter.  Luckily, one of them went in. Bryan Look (‘18) recovered the ball after a Lynbrook foul and quickly passed the ball to Dexter Gormley, (‘20) who had no trouble putting the ball away.  

The second quarter started with the Vikings in complete control.  Even though they were down 2-1, Gormley opened up the score with a goal, tying the game 2-2.

They continued, with two goals from Jack Anderson (‘18), and one goal by Look, increasing the score to 5-2.  

However, the Vikings began to lose control of the game.  A Lynbrook player was fouled, and Lynbrook was awarded a 5-meter penalty shot.  The penalty shot was made and Lynbrook began to catch up, as the half closed with a score of 5-3.    

“I’m not entirely upset with the entire game.  There are definitely points that I am happy with, but we can’t go up by 3 points in a quarter and then have the game go to overtime,” coach Aaron Johnson said.   

The second half began, and Anderson quickly showed great athleticism.  After receiving a pass relatively close the goal, a Lynbrook player was pulling him from behind.  However, he managed to get off the player.  Everyone was expecting Anderson to shoot a rocket into the corner of the net, but he calmly floated the ball over the Lynbrook goalie’s head.   

Anderson had another goal in the third quarter, assisted by Gormley.  In spite of this, Lynbrook did not fail to respond.  They scored 4 more goals and as the third quarter ended, the score was 7-7.  

The 4th quarter did not have a lot of action in terms of goals scored.  Each side only scored one goal, and for the Vikings, it was Matthew Nemeth (‘18).  

The only goal Lynbrook scored in the quarter was nearly saved by Ben Rapperport (‘19).  It was a hard skip shot and Rapperport got a piece of it.  However, it was well placed and it, unfortunately, went in.

Even though the Vikings went into overtime, they completely dominated.  

“The way we handled overtime, we controlled the entire thing to finish off the game with a win, which is a positive to finish with,” Johnson said.  

Ryan Stanley (‘20) led the way in overtime with a well-placed shot.  Look followed up with a 5-meter penalty shot that sealed the deal for the Vikings.  

In regards to the next game, “I’m hoping we put it away, don’t make it a game late. We need finish it off in the first half,” Johnson said.

The game ends with a score of 11-8 and the Boys’ Water Polo Team will have their next game at Los Altos on Thursday afternoon.