Despite falling to fourth place in league play, with a record of five wins and seven losses three places lower than last year, the boys’ water polo won two out of three games in the league tournament to finish third, one place higher than last year’s tournament results.
The third place game, played on Nov. 7 at Lynbrook, was an inspiring win for the Falcons to finish an inconsistent season. The squad faced No. 2 Fremont and had a tough time getting started, scoring only two goals to Fremont’s four. But the deficit didn’t hold long as they were able to outscore the Firebirds 5-0 in the second quarter.
The team maintained advantage in the last half to bring home the bronze. The final score was 13-6, with goals scored by seniors Jon Chen, Kevin Rollinson, Victor Wong and Kevin Yao, junior Tim Rollinson and sophomores Eric Wang, Nick Doyen and Tyler Borch. Goalie junior Gavin Peake put in a stellar game, allowing only two goals in the last three quarters.
“We had really good chemistry in the third place game,” said Peake. “It was the last time playing with the seniors and I think we really meshed as a team.
The win came as a relief after a 19-9 loss to No. 1 Lynbrook on Nov. 6 in the semifinals of the tournament. The Vikings’ high-powered offense proved to be too much for the Falcons. A win in this game would have kept CCS hopes for Saratoga alive, but Lynbrook was determined to establish dominance among the league.
“I seriously believe we are the second best team in our league,” said Wong. “We had to face Lynbrook in the semifinals, but we definitely would have had a good game against [No. 2] Wilcox.”
The first game of the tournament for the team was played on Nov. 5 against fifth-ranked Cupertino. Saratoga entered the game with two league wins and one loss against Cupertino and only one game separating them in the league standings. After the ejection of two meter defense man T. Rollinson, his brother K. Rollinson was forced to assume the defensive position. Solid defensive play by K. Rollinson and a scoring attack led by senior captains Chen and Yao allowed the Falcons to come out on top, 10-8.
“We started the season rough but each game we improved and we did better overall this year than last year,” said Chen.