After a resounding win kicked off its Rio Hondo campaign on the road, the San Marino boys’ water polo team looked to keep things going in the Titans’ league home opener against La Cañada, which had dropped its first league contest at home.
Behind a masterful defensive effort, the host Titans overwhelmed the Spartans 18-4 on Sept. 28 to stay perfect in league play.
“Our defense was phenomenal,” San Marino coach Robert Zirovich said. “Half of their passes we anticipated and we stole them before they got there. It was literally Michelangelo, Da Vinci — a thing of beauty.”
On offense, San Marino (9-3 overall, 2-0 in league) was led by Howard Huang’s six goals, which included at least one in each quarter. Daniel Chen contributed four goals, junior Nathan Chan three and Diego Joaquin Garcia two. Yuteng Li, Jonathan Zhang and freshman Nathan Chan each tallied one.
“I think we started off kind of, like, not in the zone, but as the game progressed, we got into [the zone], scored more and played more as a team,” Huang said.
La Cañada (6-10, 0-2) got two goals from Ian Wipfli, while Connor Weightman and Erik Tait Landswick scored one apiece.
“I saw a lot of good, a lot of correctable errors and we can only get better from here on out,” La Cañada coach Gilbert Millanes said. “San Marino is a tough opponent. They are fast, heavy [with] seniors. They are strong. We’re not the biggest team but we’ll get there eventually.”
The hosts held a 9-3 advantage at halftime before outscoring La Cañada 7-0 in the third. Freshman Nathan Chan got it started with a goal off a rebound 1:05 into the period. Huang struck next with a goal on a skip shot from long distance with 4:43 left. With 3:35 to go, Huang assisted junior Nathan Chan on a goal with a cross-pool pass.
Soon after, play was halted when Garcia and Spartan Max Hong became entangled as the teams transitioned to the other side of the pool. It quickly escalated into mutual combat as the whistles halted play at the 3:06 mark. They were called for double flagrant misconduct and disqualified from the rest of the contest.
“Somebody grabbed somebody, somebody hit somebody underwater and two kids came up and both of them were swinging,” Zirovich said. “There is no place for this in the game. This is the first time I have seen something like this in my career here at San Marino. Hopefully, it’s the last.”
The teams went to their benches as the referees met with the team captains, warning against any more of this conduct. Both squads were awarded a penalty shot. Zhang converted his successfully, while the Spartan attempt missed the cage. The next possession, belonging to the hosts, was played five-on-five and ended with a goal by junior Nathan Chan with 2:47 to go in the third.
“I’m very proud of how the boys on both teams kept their composure for the remaining one and a half quarters and played things out,” Zirovich said.
With 1:24 to go, Chen fired a shot into the bottom left corner of the cage for a goal and the final score of the third came from close range in transition by Huang with 37 seconds to make it 16-3 going into the fourth.
In the final period, San Marino used as much time as possible on each possession. Huang scored his final goal of the contest with 4:25 left. La Cañada scored its final goal of the game with 2:55 remaining on a goal from close by Wipfli off an assist by Weightman. The final margin was set by Li when he scored with 1:07 left.
San Marino led 3-1 after the first quarter, and it could have been a lot more were it not for numerous near misses. Huang opened the scoring 58 seconds in with a goal in transition off an assist by freshman Nathan Chan. Junior Nathan Chan then notched a goal with 5:24 to go before Chen scored in close off a rebound with 3:00 to go. The Spartans got on the board with 1:35 to go when Landswick skipped in a 5-meter penalty shot.
The Titans pulled away in the second period to the tune of 6-2. Chen scored the first two goals, one off an assist by Garcia and the second from close range. Weightman fired a long range shot into the upper corner with 3:19 left before San Marino scored the next three goals, with one from Huang and the next two by Garcia set up by long outlet passes. La Cañada got a goal from Wipfli off an assist by Alex Abramian with 20 seconds to go before Huang tallied his second of the period with nine seconds left.
“We started out fast. Had our opportunities, didn’t capitalize on all of them, but I was really impressed with the Titan counter,” Zirovich said.
After the game concluded, the two coaches facilitated an introduction between Garcia and Hong, who shook hands and briefly embraced. The matter will now be forwarded to the CIF. Millanes was direct about how to avoid similar entanglements going forward.
“Don’t respond with your emotions,” he said.
First published in the Oct. 5 issue of the San Marino Tribune
