On Friday, Oct. 4, at 6 p.m., the Archie Williams boys varsity water polo team met the Davis Senior High School Blue Devils at the Falcons’ home pool. The Falcons came out with intensity and energy, leading them to win 13-6.
The Falcons started off the first quarter by beating the Blue Devils in the sprint to win first possession. Archie Williams started off slow defensively but still had an impressive offense with goals from seniors Jacob Carrera and Hayden Long. Archie Williams junior goalkeeper Josh Dixon succeeded in blocking several shots from Davis but still let three goals in, ending the quarter 2-3 with the Blue Devils in the lead.
Jacob believes support from the bench helped the Falcons to pick up their pace for the second quarter.
“I think that we started off slow, but we rallied, and I think the guys coming off the bench really helped us out,” Jacob said.
After the two-minute intermission between quarters, Archie Williams started the second quarter strong by winning possession and seniors Vincent Krilonovich and Max Gauna scoring early goals, as well as two more from Jacob and Hayden. The Falcons’ defense allowed no goals through and barely gave the Blue Devils any possession time, resulting in the Falcons winning the first half 7-3.
Max thinks changing up their defense changed up the game for the second half.
“[We] started slow, had a few turnovers that we shouldn’t have had but then we picked it up in the second half… We focused on defense,” Max said.
The Falcons started off the second half with intensity with another goal from Vincent. The Falcons defense continued to produce turnovers, resulting in more goal opportunities. After a short timeout, the Falcons started out offensive, which resulted in a turnover.
After the turnover, the Blue Devils had a close shot on goal, barely missing. For the rest of the quarter, both teams managed several goal attempts, resulting in one goal from each and bringing the score to 11-5 at the end of the quarter.
Coming into the last quarter, the Falcons were up by six with high hopes for the rest of the game. The last quarter started off slow with no points in the beginning, but the Blue Devils scored two minutes into the quarter. Archie Williams then called a timeout to refocus, and senior Gunnar Koenig scored shortly after.
Archie Williams boys varsity water polo coach Steve Carrera believes the team had to focus more on defense so they could turnover the ball to their offense.
“We were just focusing on the defense and the counter attacks… so we were getting some easy goals, giving us the lead,” Carerra said.
The two teams continued to rally with goals from each, but the Falcons emerged victorious, winning 13-6.
The win brought the Falcons neck-and-neck with their rivals, the Redwood High School Giants, both teams having a 12-1 record. The Falcons now shift their attention to their next game against San Domenico School Tuesday, Oct. 8. Archie Williams looks to continue their winning streak, with high hopes for the game against San Domenico School.
