The season was finally able to
begin for the men’s water polo
team last Friday with a win and a
loss at the San Diego Mesa Tour-
nament.
The men lost 11-6 against the
home team San Diego Mesa, but
made up for it with a 21-8 defeat
of Santa Monica.
“It was their first game of the
season” coach Corey Stanbury
said, attributing that as a factor in
their loss.
Stanbury added that San Di-
ego Mesa is a “very good team”
that has been consistently strong,
and a team which defeated EC in
three close games last season.
“We made a couple of mistakes,”
Stanbury said, adding that is typical
of the first game of a season.
A standout in this first game was
returning goalkeeper David Olson,
who made 12 saves against San Di-
ego Mesa.
“We had a disadvantage of it be-
ing our first game,” Jeff Craver, 21,
said. “We have players that are from
other countries and the different
styles of water polo can be a factor.”
Craver said he believes the team is
still very strong regardless.
Overall, Stanbury said that EC has
a very well-rounded team this year,
and both old and new players will be
strong throughout the season.
“The second game went much
better,” Stanbury said, describing the
men’s defeat of Santa Monica. “We
had a chance to play all of our play-
ers.”
EC scored 21 goals during the
game. Craver, Javier Molina and
Arpad Toldi scored three goals each
and nine other players scored at
least one goal each during the game.
Goalkeeper Jose Bahena made seven
saves during the game.
“We were strong offensively and
defensively when we needed to be,”
Stanbury said.
“Everything went great and ev-
eryone played really well,” Craver
added.
A total of 10 freshman players
scored goals during the tournament,
with many of them scoring multiple
times during the second game.
“We have potential and we
showed it,” Stanbury said, and
though the season is just starting he
said he believes that EC is a team
that should be watched out for.
“We are really good, and have a
deep team,” Stanbury said.
Next up is a home game against
conference rivals Cerritos College
Sept. 23 and a tournament that same
week.
EC lost in a close game to Cer-
ritos last year, but with this season’s
new team it will be an exciting game to watch.