Boys water polo defeats El Segundo 16-13

In a close-fought Ocean League matchup between the two top teams in the league on Oct. 15, Samo was able to come out on top beating El Segundo High School Eagles 16-13 and taking first place in the standings.“I knew it was going to be a tough game,” Joseph Robson (’16), utility, said. “Our team is experienced, strong and tough, so I knew that if we played as a team and made the right decisions we would easily win.”This was the hardest matchup for Samo so far this season as both teams were trading the lead throughout every quarter.Samo got off to a quick start, scoring two goals in the first three minutes of the game.“The first half was great,” Robson said. “That is where we surprised El Segundo, which really set the tone for the game.”Throughout the first half, the lead swapped many times between El Segundo and Samo. The Vikings ended up securing a one point lead in the second quarter, with players such as driver Zane Spielman (’16) scoring whenever the opposing defense lapsed.Goalie John Kimrey (’16) was active in the pass game during the first half.“My best moment was when I threw a pass to Robson from full (court) and he scored a goal,” Kimrey said.In the third quarter, El Segundo scored to bring the score to 9-8, with the Eagles leading. However, El Segundo’s lead was short-lived because Michael Laborde (’16) scored a goal from half court to return the game to a tie. Soon after, Kimrey stole the ball from a close-range shooter and driver Kyle Schwartz (’16) scored to bring Samo two points ahead.According to Robson, the team almost lost their composure at times, but were able to recover.“I knew the team was nervous but [Coach Matthew] Flanders did a good job of keeping the team together and focused,” Robson said. “The momentum of the team was unbelievable, although we let in some goals, we were able to come over it and continue playing hard.”In the final quarter, Samo quickly regained defensive control and it became obvious they were going to have a clear victory. In a risky move, El Segundo’s goalie attempted to leave the goal and steal the ball, but he soon regretted his choice when Robson used this as opportunity for a lightly thrown, poorly defended throw-in to bring Samo into a final three point lead, 16-13.According to Spielman, the best part of the game was the last goal scored by Samo.“The last shot [was my favorite],” Spielman said. “Everyone was so excited, and we knew we had it in the bag.”Now that Samo is on top of the league standings with this defeat of EL Segundo, they are looking ahead towards their next game against Torrance High School.“As a team we should have more communication and be able to get in the lanes [a term for hard-pressing an individual] more to stop the ball moving around as easily,” Robson said. “We are a fit team and sometimes we don’t use it as well as we could. There is always room for improvement.”