Arcadia High School’s (AHS) Boys Varsity Water Polo team played an extraordinary matchup against Glendale High School (GHS) Nitros at GHS’ new state-of-the-art facility at GHS on Oct. 2. AHS secured a decisive 13-7 victory, bringing their league record to 4-1 after a previous loss to Hoover High School. This win places AHS second in the league, tied with their rivals, Crescenta Valley High School.
The game started strong, with the Apaches forming a solid defensive wall that allowed few goals. Senior Captain Warren Luc led with seven saves, followed by senior Russell Meek with two and sophomore Terrence Chung with one. The defense was on point with excellent coordination between the goalies and field players. Additionally, senior Logan Wong recorded five steals, while junior Nico Ocampo followed closely with four.
“Going into a tough league match, every single one of my teammates was locked in and on the same page as one another. Throughout the game, I felt we played a great press of defense, keeping Glendale to only two goals at the half, and they just couldn’t get a shot off on us. Phenomenal defense led to counterattacks in which we capitalized and ultimately ended up with 13 goals at the end of the game,” said Luc
Glendale struggled on offense due to numerous fouls, which led to their star player being ejected during the first half.
“We had too many turnovers and got too many ejections/penalties, which led to one of my starters not playing the second half. In his absence, other players on the team stepped it up, and that was great to see,” said GHS Head Coach Narek Vardanian.
With the score being 5-2 at halftime, the Apaches quickly picked up the pace offensively.
“Offensively, we could have been more proactive. We got the job done, but played more to their speed and the level [of Glendale] than to ours. We need to work on coming out hard from the start of the game and then maintaining that intensity,” said AHS Coach Janice Clark.
Ocampo led the team in goals with five, followed by Wong, junior Nathan Geiger, and freshman Brandon Zhu, each with two goals. Senior Nicholas Chang and sophomore Kurt Waijaya ended the game with one goal.
“I thought that overall my team did some things well and other things not so well. We have to take care of the ball better and play more careful defense,” said Coach Vardanian.
With this win, the team looks forward to its next matchup to qualify for CIF.
