Dolphins' Water Polo Almost Upsets Venice

Trailing 7-4 going into the fourth and final period of Monday's grudge game against Venice, the boys water polo team faced a daunting task in a matchup with the Western League lead on the line.

However, the upset-minded Dolphins rallied to tie the score with just under one and a half minutes remaining and it took a goal by junior two-meter player Julian Perez with 14 seconds left for the Gondos to escape with a 9-8 victory at Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center. Still, it was a noticeable improvement for Palisades against the same team that had defeated the Dolphins 8-4 in a tournament 10 days earlier. 

"We did a lot better because we have a little more experience and we played better defense," said Palisades sprinter Tristan Marsh, who scored a breakaway goal to pull the Dolphins within 7-5 with 6:01 remaining. "I think we can win next time because we had a lot of kick-outs and we still only lost by one goal. They won't underestimate us next time, though."

Alex Feizbakhsh scored on a counterattack with 2:53 to go to pull Palisades to within two goals, then he scored again off a pinpoint pass from Marsh to make the score 8-7 Gondos at the 2:09 mark. Patrick Huggins' goal then tied the game with 1:23 left. Huggins also score twice on five-meter shots. Luka Kosanin and Danny Hernandez each added a goal for the underdog Dolphins.

Palisades is but a first-year program yet it has been one of the surprise teams in the so far this season, having won its first five games against City opponents and entering Monday's contest tied atop the league standings with the defending champion Gondos.

"They may be a new team but it's still pretty big because our schools are rivals so we always want to beat Palisades," Perez said. "We hadn't played since last Wednesday and our fundamentals were a little off. It became sort of a see-saw game at the end, which isn't how we wanted it."

Zach DeSantis scored two goals and Hunter Gawboy, Vincent Malike, Jordan Kelch, Carmelo Furlan, Peet and Perez each added one goal for the Gondos, who moved into sole possession of first place in league. The teams face off again next Monday at Venice. DeSantis scored on a rebound to put Venice ahead 8-5 with 3:52 left in the fourth period. 

"We made a couple of bone-headed plays that allowed them to get back in the game," Venice Coach Bart Gawboy said. "We made some bad passes, we weren't executing our offense and our hole setter wasn't as aggressive as he should be."

Venice had a much easier time against the Dolphins in its opening game of the on Sept. 24, winning by four goals. Palisades went on to lose to host Brentwood and the Sherman Oaks Notre Dame junor varsity team. Last weekend, the Dolphins played in the South Bay Classic and lost to South Pasadena, El Segundo, Chadwick and Santa Monica.

"Those teams were all really good--much tougher teams than the ones we've been playing in the City," Marsh said. "We learned a lot from those [tournament] games and we're a better team for having played them."

After Perez scored the go-ahead goal Friday, the Dolphins quickly set up their offense, but Patrick Huggins turned the ball over with six seconds left and Venice goalie Duncan Fredrick held onto the ball until the clock expired. Fredrick made five saves, including a point-blank stop on Palisades' Luka Kosanin to keep the game tied with about one minute left.

"I told my players to apply tight, in-your-face pressure defense in the fourth quarter and that took them out of their offense some," Palisades Coach Adam Blakis said. "We played poor defense on their last goal but this is a huge improvement over last time. I was surprised it was that close."

Score by Periods

1

2

3

4

Final

Venice

3

1

3

2

9

Palisades

2

1

1

4

8

Goals: Venice -- DeSantis 2, Gawboy, Salazar, Furlan, Peet, Perez, Malike, Kelch. Palisades -- Huggins 3, Feizbakhsh 2, Kosanin, Hernandez, Marsh.

Records: Venice 4-3, 3-0; Palisades 5-1, 2-1.