With seven seconds left on the clock, El Camino’s Jonas Fahrney made the tying goal to send the men’s water polo game into overtime.
El Camino and L.A. Trade Tech remained tied through the second overtime. The Warriors went into a 3-minute golden goal period. First team to score wins the game.
Halfway through the golden goal period, EC Jason Gottschalk, made the winning shot, giving the Warriors a 21-20 win over Trade Tech and their first victory of the season on Wednesday.
“I feel like we played really hard,” Gottschalk said. “We knew it would be a tough game, because it was probably the most evenly matched we have been all season.”
Coach Corey Stanbury agreed with Gottschalk’s feelings, saying that the “game could’ve gone either way.”
In the last few minutes, the crowd roared with anxiety not knowing who would win such a close game.
There were many players who scored, but only one came out on top. Fahrney led El Camino with nine goals.
“I have never made more than nine goals,” Fahrney said. “I’m happy, but I’m also a little bummed out that I didn’t beat the school’s record.”
Goalie Nicholas Elias said even though EC came out on top, there are still some key things the team needs to work on.
“As a team, overall I think we’re improving in all areas we need,” Elias said. “But I think the most we need to improve on is game awareness because some players focus too much on one player, and they get lost in the pool.”
In the end, Stanbury said that he was proud of his team, even though they made a lot of mistakes during the game, such as not blocking shots from the opposing team.
The Warriors picked up their second win of the season with a 19-10 win over Southwestern College on Friday at the San Diego Mesa tournament. In the second game, the Warriors fell to Citrus College, 19-8.
In today’s South of the Border tournament, the Warriors lost the first game, 9-7, to San Diego Miramar College.
EDITOR’S NOTE SEPT. 26, 2016 10:01 P.M.: Minor grammatical errors corrected.
