Pacifica High’s boys water polo team suffered a 16-6 defeat in its last game of the summer league season against University High School from Irvine at University High last week.
The Mariners put up a hard fought display throughout the contest at Oceanview High, but just had trouble converting goals when in scoring positions.
Despite losing by 10 goals, the Mariners' assistant coach felt positive about the team’s performance and what it meant to them for the upcoming season.
Pacifica High’s boys water polo team suffered a 16-6 defeat in its last game of the summer league season against University High School from Irvine at University High last week.
The Mariners put up a hard fought display throughout the contest at Oceanview High, but just had trouble converting goals when in scoring positions.
Despite losing by 10 goals, the Mariners' assistant coach felt positive about the team’s performance and what it meant to them for the upcoming season.
“I have high hopes for the Empire league [season],” said Assistant Coach Allison Rust.
The Mariners attacking and physical toughness on display Thursday afternoon will be something that Pacifica will be looking forward to in the coming season.
The player who displayed the most laudable efforts was Pacifica’s Aaron Bauer.
Bauer led Pacifica in attack and fired many shots at University’s goal. His strong presence in the water kept his opponents working and he always looked keen on scoring.
Bauer’s efforts and that of his teammates, proved not enough to overcomes their opponents attacking capabilities.
So much energy was being expounded by the Mariners in attack that many players looked fatigued getting down the pool to defend.
This led to many open opportunities for University High in front of goal. Many times throughout the game a University player would be going up against the Mariners' keeper one-on-one, which led to the large gap in goals between the two in the end.
The abundance of goals going against them led to many Pacifica players getting frustrated with their play.
After a forced long pass across the pool resulted in a turnover for Pacifica and a goal for University, Bauer shouted “lets get the ball and pass it guys!”
The frustration of their play was too much to shake in the end, and Pacifica never found its scoring rhythm in the end.
The Mariners head coach Eric Anderson was not present to give a comment, but his assistant focused on the upcoming season when asked about the team’s performance.
“I think they [played] good [considering] they are pretty tired,” Rust said.
The Mariners have been participating in a summer league at Oceanview since the beginning of June and have faced about six different schools.
“It’s the end of the [summer league] season for us, but I feel like it will be a good season for us at the Empire league,” Rust said.
