On October 27th, the boys water polo team faced off against Northwood. UHS came out with a 17-8 win. 

UHS had already secured the league title and their first CIF berth in over 30 years, yet they wanted more. Senior captain, Jaden Chen, expressed his hunger for an undefeated season. He said, “we wanted to close off on the season with an undefeated record of 12-0.”

It wasn’t a gift-wrapped win though. The team fought through illness as some of their players were sick. Senior captain Victor Martin said, “We had a couple of our key players playing sick, so it was more of a challenge.”

Although many of the players weren’t fully ready for the match, it didn’t stop UHS from starting hot. They scored five goals in the first quarter and another five after halftime, something that was common for this team  as they averaged 4.9 points in the first quarter throughout the season. Northwood struggled to keep up as they trailed during the whole match. Northwood only scored one point each quarter until they scored four in the fourth. 

This was the team’s last league game before entering CIF and competing against teams outside the Pacific Coast League. Before heading into the playoffs, sophomore Oleg Shatskikh said they needed to improve their defensive structure. “We have very good communication but there are sometimes these little breakdowns that let the opposition get a goal,” he said.

Overall, the team has demonstrated consistently victorious performances throughout the season, with few losses at certain games and tournaments. After kicking off the season with a loss against Aliso Niguel HS, the UHS boys’ water polo team won eight consecutive matches, making for their longest continuous winning streak of the season.

The boys water polo team finished their season with a 22-6 overall record and a 12-0 undefeated league record. They passed Capistrano Valley in the first round, but fell to Servite in the second round of the playoffs.