The Redwood boy’s varsity water polo team suffered a disappointing 12-8 defeat to Drake in the MCAL finals on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Despite a blowout loss to Drake two weeks prior, Redwood proved to be a challenge to the Pirates in their path to the MCAL championship on Saturday.
Drake scored the first goal of the game after several back and forth possessions. Senior Ryan Schoenlein scored Redwood’s first goal which was followed by four more Redwood goals in the first half.
Redwood caught up to Drake and evened the score several times in the first two quarters, but were never able to take the lead.
“When I tell you to take the shot, take the shot!” coach Rudy Kardos shouted to the team at the end of the first half.
Drake entered halftime only up by one goal as Redwood put forth a much better performance than in their first meeting this season. .
“After the first quarter of our first game in the regular season we were down 4-0, and they were pulling their starters out of the game into the showers to change, so they didn’t get cold,.” junior Will Kepler said.
But the second half was rougher for Redwood, as they were never able to tied the game back up. However, long-range goals from sophomore Scott Matthews and senior Francesco Cico kept the team in high spirits.
Goal by Scott Matthews
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Goals by Francesco Cico
The game came down to which team took more shots, with Drake shooting 28 times and Redwood shooting 26 times. Drake also took advantage of their fast breaks.
“I thought we played very well,” Schoenlein said. “ [Drake] has a very talented team. We could’ve worked on fast break defense.”
Cico led the Giants with three goals on only five shots, the highest scoring average on the team. Also, Redwood goalie Quinn O’Connor was praised again by parents and teammates for his unflappable defense.
“ [Drake] was able to get the ball close to the goal and [ O’Connor] made great point blank saves,” Schoenlein said.
Redwood will go on to play Washington High School on Nov. 3 in the first round of the Division I NCS water polo championships.
