Varsity II Water Polo'ers Win In First Round
by Al Linsky
It's tournament time for the varsity II boys' water polo team.
On Monday night, the Raiders took on the Warriors of Kamehameha for the right to play against the first seed on Wednesday.
When you see as many athletic events as I do, you hope for a close, hard-fought game. Yes, blowouts are sometimes fun (if your team is on the right side), but what really excites me is the suspense of a close match.
The Warriors are one of those teams that can be depended on to put a strong team out on the field (in this case, pool). They did not disappoint.
The Raiders jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, the first goal with 1:40 left in the quarter. Kellen Chong added a goal at :47. 2-0, Raiders. Jeffrey Chau added another goal midway through the second quarter, 3-0, Raiders.
At this point, I started wondering when or if the Warriors would strike back. Just 21 seconds later I got my answer as the Warriors' defense tightened, and they scored: 3-1, Raiders.
With 44 seconds left in the half, the Warriors scored again. 3-2, Raiders. As I started to squirm a bit, Jeffrey Chau struck again with only 5 seconds left in the half, to extend the lead to 4-2. A two goal lead is so much more comfortable!
The two goal lead didn't last, though, as the Warriors found the net with 3:30 left in the third. 4-3, Raiders.
With two minutes to go in the third, the Raiders got that one back, 5-3, Raiders.
Just when I was starting to feel comfortable again, the Warriors hit pay dirt, 5-4, with 4:36 left in the game.
Tom Hartwell then came up with the deciding goal to get the lead back to two with 4:14 to go, 6-4, Raiders.
With 17 seconds left, the Raiders went into a defensive shell around the goal, but the Warriors found a hole, 6-5, Raiders. The Warriors mounted a furious attack after a timeout but the Raiders wouldn't break and that's how it ended.
Great game!
The Raiders now play the number one seed at Punahou, 5:00 p.m. Wednesday.
