Boys’ water polo defeats Irvine in playoff opener

Jake Liker

November 12, 2015

Luke Henriksson ’17 walks in the ball in the Wolverines’ playoff opener against Irvine. (Credit: Rian Ratnavale ’17)

The Wolverines downed the Irvine Vaqueros 20-6 in the first round of the 2015 Division 1 CIF-Southern Section Ford Boys Water Polo Championships.

RECAP

Three goals in the opening three minutes from Felix Brozyna-Vilim ’17 got the Wolverines off to a hot start–it was the only hot thing about the noticeably brisk Wednesday evening at the Copses Family Pool.

With the team’s leading scorer, Ben Hallock ’16, staying out of the pool for the match (this was not injury-related; he was simply given a rest), other players capitalized on scoring opportunities. Brozyna-Vilim scored twice more to finish the game with five goals, a scoring total bested only by Evan Rosenfeld ’17, who found the back of the net six times to lead the team in scoring.

Hallock’s one-game recess allowed Alec Mendelssohn ’17 to be part of the starting lineup. Mendelssohn took advantage of the opportunity, scoring thrice on the evening.

The Wolverines outscored Irvine 8-0 in the first quarter. Goalie Sam Krutonog ’18 looked to preserve his shutout heading into halftime, but the Vaqueros were able to get on the scoreboard with nine seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Leading 14-1 at halftime, Head Coach Brian Flacks ’06 gave his team’s substitutes some playoff experience in the second half. All 18 athletes on the varsity except for Hallock had gotten in on the action to some degree by the time the final horn had sounded.

Rian Ratnavale '17 — Spencer Towill ’17 holds onto the ball in the 4th quarter of the Wolverines’ 20-6 victory over Irvine.

It was a comprehensive victory for the heavily favored Wolverines. When asked what the key to his team’s victory was, Duncan Froomer ’16, who contributed to the offensive onslaught with two goals of his own, couldn’t help but list several different facets of the game in which the Wolverines excelled.

“Pressing, countering hard, relying a lot on our transition game, playing good individual defense, not turning over the ball,” Froomer said.

HWTV’s archived broadcast of the game can be watched here:

The Wolverines will face Aguora in the quarterfinals this Saturday morning at the Copses Family Pool at Harvard-Westlake.

BOX SCORE

Goals by quarter:

1 2 3 4 Total

HW 8 6 5 1 – 20

Irvine 0 1 2 3 – 6

Wolverine Scorers: Rosenfeld 6, Brozyna-Vilim 5, Mendelsohn 3, Froomer 2, Wachtell ’16 1, Henriksson ’17 1, Maloney ’18 1, Jung ’16 1

BRACKET RECAP