The boys’ water polo team overcame the Orange Lutheran Lancers 7-6 in front of the homecoming crowd to remain undefeated with a 19-0 record.
The Lancers took the early lead, scoring two quick goals in the opening minutes before UCLA commit Luke Henriksson ’17 was able to put the wolverines on the scoreboard late in the 1st quarter, followed by another goal late in the second by Keller Maloney ’18.
A barrage in the closing minutes of the second quarter gave the Lancers a 4-2 lead going into halftime.
However, the Wolverines were able to respond in the second half, surging back with 2 more goals from Henriksson, 2 goals from Evan Rosenfeld ’17 and 1 goal from Alec Mendelsohn ’17.
Being a team that focuses heavily on defense, the Wolverines seemed to have problems on the offensive end.
“Clearly our offense really struggled tonight so I think offensively we’ve got to get a lot better”, Head coach Brian Flacks ’06 said.
The inability to produce as many goals as the Wolverines tend to score may be attributed to the loss of USA national team player Felix Brozyna-Vilim ’17 to injury.
“We’re talking about one of the most talented players in high school, It affects us greatly” said Flacks, but he emphasized that the squad was able to come together as a unit in Brozyna-Vilim’s absence. “I’m really proud of the way the boys have been able to respond and rally around him and everyone obviously is devastated that he isn’t in the pool with us but they’ve done a really nice job staying focused and coming together in this tough time.”
Although excitement is growing over the potential of an undefeated season and another CIF Division I championship in the near future, Flacks and his squad remain focused on on the present. He maintains that his squad emphasizes “being where your feet are, living in the present, not being complacent.”
Flacks acknowledged that winning CIF finals is a major goal of the team, but he and his squad will not take the approach of using wins and losses to define them, but instead seek to focus on their growth as a team.
“We just want to get better, solidify our identity, and be the best us that we can be,” said Flacks, “and we think that being the best us is capable of winning a championship.”
The squad will face Mater Dei next Friday, Oct. 21 at the Copses Family pool.
