Sharks Water Polo Takes Second At Oxnard Tournament

With two weeks left before the playoffs, the annual Oxnard tournament was the perfect chance for the Sharks to test themselves against other good teams. And to show how far the Sharks have come this year they were ranked second in the tournament, even though some of the other teams have been hard for them to beat in the past.

First up for the Sharks on Friday was the Camarillo Scorpions, whom they played in their first game of this tournament last year. And the result was pretty much the same. The Sharks dominated early, led by a score of 10 to 1 at the half and won easily 16 to 2. Highlights included four goals each by co-captains Emmet Pierson and Jordan Clarke. Owen Franz looks to be recovered from his injury and had three goals and Henry Buckley scored two goals. Morgan Hathorn and Jens Cole combined for seven assists and goalies Dane Sartorius and Jack Thompson split time defending the goal.

The second game on Friday was against the Temple City Rams.  The Sharks got off to a slow start and played a bit sloppy and the score was tied 4 to 4 at half time.  But Pierson scored two goals to start the third quarter and the Sharks rolled to a 9 to 5 win.  Leading the way was Pierson with four goals and Franz with three goals and Clarke and Alec Wilimovsky with a goal each.  Goalie Sartorius was solid and had 16 blocks.

Saturday started with two big challenges; win the championship and do it without starting goalie Dane Sartorius.  But first they had to get past the Crescenta Valley Falcons, who are ranked 8th in Division V.   The game started slowly with both teams looking a bit sleepy and the score was 1 to 0 with the Falcons leading after the first quarter.  At the start of the second quarter the Sharks missed a couple of golden opportunities when they failed to score on two breakaways, but Buckley found the back of the net on a man advantage play and the score was tied 1 to 1 at the half.

The Sharks woke up in the third quarter and scored three times with goals from Franz, Buckley and Clarke.  With a 4 to 1 lead at the start of the fourth quarter Cole scored and the Sharks survived three late goals by the Falcons with goals from Franz and Wilimovsky and won 7 to 4.  Backup goalie Jack Thompson might have been the star of the game and made nine blocks, including five quality saves.

The tournament championship game was now set and featured the Sharks versus the tournament number one ranked Pasadena Poly Panthers.  The Panthers are ranked third in Division V and the Sharks have not beat them for several years.  And sure enough the game started with the Panthers scoring on a rebound and the Panthers led 1 to 0.  But Pierson drove to the net on the next possession and in a wild flurry Clarke somehow poked the ball into the net to tie the score.  Poly scored fairly easily on the next possession, but Pierson tied the score with a 5 meter goal after a whistle.  The quarter ended with the Panthers scoring from outside and they led 3 to 2.

The second quarter was dominated by the Sharks with Clarke scoring first and then Pierson scoring twice and Malibu led 5 to 4 at halftime.  The third quarter started with Clarke scoring an exciting goal with time expiring on the 30 second shot clock.  The Panthers responded with a goal, but then it was Franz with a nice 7 meter outside shot that found the back of the net.  The Panthers responded with another goal, but the quarter ended with Clarke scoring and the Sharks led 8 to 6 at the start of the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter has been a difficult one against good teams for the Sharks, and this game was no exception.  The Panthers scored first on a quick counter goal and then tied the score on a 6 meter shot with about a minute and a half left in the game.  But then Pierson drew a 5 meter penalty call with 31 seconds left and scored to put the Sharks up 9 to 8 and it looked like the Sharks might hold on for the win.  But with 15 seconds left the Panthers again scored on another outside shot and the game was headed to sudden death overtime. 

After each team failed to score on their first possession of overtime the Sharks had a defensive breakdown that allowed an easy goal and the Panthers won 10 to 9.  Though the Sharks lost they played a good game against a quality opponent.  Thompson was solid filling in at goal, co-captains Pierson and Clarke had four goals each and starters Hathorn and Buckley had two assists each.

The upcoming week will be a big one for the Sharks.  On Wednesday they play league rival Carpinteria and then on Friday play the #1 ranked Oaks Christian Lions.  The match-up against the Lions will be a rematch of the #1 and #3 ranked teams in Division VI a couple of weeks ago that was won by the Lions late in the fourth quarter.  The game Friday is also a possible preview of the CIF Championship game if both teams make it that far.  Also if the Lions win they will claim the Tri-Valley League title and if the Sharks win they will share the title for the second year in a row.  The Sharks now have a record of 17 wins and 4 losses.