Boys Water Polo starts off the season with a 6-8 loss to Tesoro

By COURTNEY WHYTE
Staff Writer

The University High School (UHS) boys water polo team put up a good fight against Tesoro High School (THS) at the first home game this year on September 11, but ended up losing 6-8. It was a close battle throughout the whole game.
Daniel Campanaro (So.) started the game off with a quick catch-and-shoot goal assisted by goalkeeper Matt Moran (So.). Moran made several blocks throughout the game. The first quarter ended at 1-0 with UHS in the lead.
Within the first minute of the second quarter, Tesoro scored, tying the game at 1-1. After THS scored once more, Kian Matin (Sr.) answered with a crafty back-hand shot that floated into the net. The game was then tied at 2-2. Tesoro had run the score up to 5-2, when Dhruv Nathwani (Sr.) scored a tricky goal leaving the game with a score of 5-3 at halftime. Coach Braham then gave the UHS team a motivational speech and got them pumped to make a comeback in the second half.
In the third quarter, THS played aggressively, scoring three goals. UHS fought back in the fourth quarter and answered with three goals from Matin, Andy Rasla (Sr.) and Campanaro. The game then ended with a final score of 6-8 with THS taking the victory.
Matin, one of the top scorers, said, “We should’ve won, this game is important in letting us know where we stand team wise and endurance wise. We’ll get the next one.”
“I’m proud of the team, we made a good comeback but we need to work on finishing strong for future games,” said Rasla.
The boys water polo team is off to a positive start for the season, and hope to capture the Pacific Coast League (PCL) title and make it to the California Interscholastic Finals.
The team will play next at the South Coast Tournament from September 25 to 27. The first PCL game will be on September 30 against Woodbridge High School.