Battling back from a 2-1 deficit in the first half Thursday,
Gilroy’s varsity boys water polo team was able to take a 4-3 lead
after halftime. But in the end the Mustangs couldn’t hold on for
the home-pool win as the Palma Chieftains emerged victorious,
winning 6-4.
Gilroy – Battling back from a 2-1 deficit in the first half Thursday, Gilroy’s varsity boys water polo team was able to take a 4-3 lead after halftime. But in the end the Mustangs couldn’t hold on for the home-pool win as the Palma Chieftains emerged victorious, winning 6-4.
GHS’ Eric Boe scored a goal in each of the first three quarters to go with one assist and two steals while Daniel Shields had one assist, six steals and also struck net in the third quarter. Ethan Fortuna was in goal and recorded eight saves and one steal.
The Mustangs are now 0-4 in the Tri-County Athletic League.
“We played better, but the guys don’t have the confidence to shoot the ball,” coach Tom Clark said. “They’re afraid that I’m gonna yell at ’em (for shooting) and I yell at ’em when they don’t shoot the ball.
“I’m not disappointed at the loss. I’m disappointed at just basic stuff,” Clark continued. “I know they tried hard, a lot of the time they can’t see a lot of the stuff that is going on out there. There isn’t enough communication going on out there.”
Shields said the team’s comeback strategy worked for a period of time, but couldn’t be sustained over the course of a match. The Mustangs removed a player from the hole position to spread Palma out, but the strategy required GHS players to be more active when driving on goal.
“I was hoping it would throw off the defense a lot, but it turned out our players weren’t ready,” Shields said. “We did good but we probably need to work on it a little more.”
“We changed the offense up and Palma didn’t know what we were doing,” Clark said. “But you got to drive. The only thing is it tires guys out. You can’t do that a whole game.”
Shields mentioned how the Mustangs will need to be more aggressive the next time around.
“People become spectators and start watching instead of paying attention to where the ball is going and (acting), not just watching,” he said. “(We need to be) able to have the courage to be a shooter, to look for the ball, to get out there and work hard for the ball.”
Boe agreed, saying that Gilroy’s players will need to continue attacking in games while still retaining a high level of accuracy on shots.
“We were doing good for a while and I don’t know what happened,” he said. “We just never got good shots on goal.”
The team’s next game will be Tuesday at Salinas, which is ranked 10th in the section by the San Jose Mercury News.
Girls Varsity note:
GHS got down early and lost its game at Santa Catalina on Thursday 13-5. The Mustangs gave up four first quarter goals, trailing the rest of the way.
The team’s record is now 3-4 overall and 3-2 in the TCAL.
