Sharks Water Polo Mauled By Lions

The battle of the Tri-Valley League's two best teams lived up to its hype in a thrilling game at the Malibu High "Shark Tank" Wednesday. 

With the Oaks Christian Lions coming into the contest ranked first in Division VI and the Sharks ranked third everyone new that this could be a preview of CIF finalists in November. In a physical battle of two good teams the Oaks Christian Lions managed to emerge victorious, but the Sharks should now know that they can and do indeed match up.

To be competitive in the big games the Sharks are going to need their seniors to step up, and on Wednesday Morgan Hathorn answered the call with his best game of the season. He started the scoring in the first quarter with an outside shot after a pass from Jens Cole and the Sharks led 1-0 in the early going. 

The action went back forth until goalie Dane Sartorius found Cole streaking up the pool and hit him with a perfect pass. Cole was swam over by an Oaks player in front of the goal, but in a theme for the Sharks in this game, there was no call made by the referees. 

Another theme quickly emerged too is that the Lions had a huge advantage in man advantages over the Sharks, and on their first one Sartorious made a good block to save a goal. The Sharks had one last great chance to score in the first quarter when Emmet Pierson stole the ball from the goalie, but his quick shot was just tipped off the top bar. The quarter ended with the Lions scoring on a counter and the score was tied 1-1.

The second quarter was dominated by the Sharks and started with a great goal by Jordan Clarke, who made a looping 6 meter shot into the upper right corner of the goal. 

The next goal came after Henry Buckley and Hathorn passed the ball back and forth and then Buckley fired it into the net and the Sharks led 3-1. Pierson was then ejected for a defensive foul even though the Lions player appeared to be on top of him. 

The Sharks survived being a man down just to have Cole kicked out too, but the Lions failed to score on either man advantage. The physical play continued and resulted in Cole and another player being sent off. 

The Lions then managed a nice goal making the score 3-2. As the second quarter wound down Hathorn came through again with a quick goal from 6 meters out and the Sharks led 4-2 at half time.

The third quarter started with Pierson getting the ball near the goal and being awarded a 5 meter penalty shot after the referees discussed what they should call after a Lion's player was called for swimming over him.  Pierson made the penalty shot and the score was 5-2 Sharks. 

This was the start of the turning point where the Sharks were continually called for fouls, but were unable to get any calls. First Buckley was ejected for a foul that was hard to see, and Cole cleanly stole the ball back even though the refs whistled him for a common foul. The Sharks again killed the 6-5 advantage. 

Next Cole was ejected for swimming over an Oaks player. On the Lions sixth man advantage Pierson managed to steal the ball and then appeared to have the Lions player on top of him when he got the ball at 2 meters, but again no call for the Sharks. 

Then Lions then scored on a nice goal making the score 5-3. On the next possession Hathorn and Buckley again passed the ball back and forth before Hathorn fired the ball into the goal from seven meters out.

Then the Sharks Alex Wilimovsky was ejected for a foul that had Sharks Coach Mike Mulligan yelling at the refs. On their seventh man advantage the Lions finally managed to get the ball into the net. The quarter ended with the Clarke being sent off for yet another Sharks foul, but the Sharks defended well and the score 6 to 4 Sharks leading.

The fourth quarter started with Oaks Coach Larry Felix drawing a yellow card for yelling at the refs after Clarke stole the ball and a Lion's player was called for swimming over Clarke, giving the Sharks their first six on five man advantage of the game. 

After a few quick passes it was Hathorn scoring his fourth goal of the game and the Sharks looked to be cruising with a 7 to 4 advantage. This is when the wheels fell off and the foul calls came thick and heavy against the Sharks. 

First Owen Franz was called for swimming over the back of an Oaks players and the Lions scored on a 5 meter penalty shot making the score 7-5. Then Pierson appeared to have a Lion on his back when he had the ball in front of the goal, but no foul was awarded. 

An Oaks player was then ejected for throwing the ball after a whistle giving the Sharks only their second (and last) man advantage of the game. The Sharks passed the ball around and when it came into Pierson for a quick shot a Lion's player clearly was on top of him, but again there was no call and the Sharks failed to capitalized. 

The Lions had the momentum and continued to press and scored on a good shot from outside to make the score 7-6. Soon after Pierson was assessed his third foul of the game on a tough call and was ejected for the rest of the game and the Lions scored with the man advantage and the game was tied 7 to 7. 

With under a minute left in the game Cooper Bell was called for a foul and the Lions quickly scored, but the goal was disallowed as Lions Coach Felix had called for time out. It didn't matter though as the Lions scored with a man advantage. With 30 seconds left the Sharks had one last chance, but a bad pass to Clarke ended their hopes and the game ended with the Lions winning 8-7.

Though the frustration was obvious on the Sharks players and coaches faces, there were a few good things they should take away from this game.

First of all, if the Lions are the best team in Division VI, the Sharks can clearly play even or better then them. Also the Shark defense was solid and despite being at a man disadvantage ten times during the game, they had a chance to win it right until the last few seconds. 

The play of many of the Sharks was solid.  Dane Sartorius played very well in goal and made some key blocks and recorded nine saves for the game. Senior starters Morgan Hathorn, Emmet Pierson and Jordan Clarke all played well in a big game...which will be key as the Sharks head into the playoffs in November.  And just as importantly, the rest of the starters, especially Henry Buckley and Jens Cole in this game, played key roles as well.

The Shark's next league game is this Friday vs Cate at Malibu High. Next week they play Nordhoff on the road Wednesday and Villanova at home on Thursday.