One shot can mean the difference between a win and a loss. The Warriors learned this the hard way.
Daniel Bender earned a penalty shot by getting some inside water, which gave him the right to take a free shot five meters from the goal.
The momentum was on the Warriors side at this point. With less than a minute left, all EC needed was one point to tie the game and get them into overtime, but it wasn’t meant to be as Bender missed the shot.
The Warriors eventually lost by 7-6 to Southwestern at the San Diego Mesa tournament over the weekend. The Warriors lost to Grossmont (14-6), beat Santa Monica (8-7), and lost to Fullerton (12-6).
“I think he just tried to be a little fancy with the shot instead of just trying to rip the net out of the back,” coach Corey Stanbury said. “The finesse approach didn’t work that time.”
The men are now 2-7 after placing seventh in the tournament.
Stanbury continues to stay optimistic about the team as he sees improvement, but is realistic about the opponents EC will be facing.
“We’re making some progress,” Stanbury said. “We still haven’t won that many games, and we’ve got a good team, but everybody has got good teams.”
Goalkeeper David Olson has kept EC in the games saving as many as 14 goals against Southwestern. Olson usually averages nine saves per game.
Alex Heck is the top scorer on the team with 19 goals. However, Warrior opponents have identified him and have begun to shut him, down. Southwestern and Fullerton, the Warriors last two opponents, did just that.
Players such as Bender and Chris Smith have stepped up to start shooting and scoring when Heck is not fully effective. Some players think that the team as a whole must come together.
“We got good plays, good looks, we just can’t finish. It’s there; it’s just we got to pull it off,” Mike Gavola said. “We have to play some tighter defense and make sure they don’t pull away.”
The Warriors played Mt. San Antonio College on Wednesday, but information could not be obtained by press time.
The Warriors will compete in the Saddleback tournament this weekend, where they will meet Southwestern again.
“I’m optimistic we’re going to play better in a bigger pool and be able to take advantage of our speed versus them and pay them back,” Stanbury said.
Other problems for the Warriors have included a lack of veteran players on the team. Many are fresh-faced and are playing water polo for the first time.
EC also has had trouble staving off their opponents and passing the halftime threshold.
“It was good besides the point of losing,” Jeff Craver said. “Same thing as always, we played solid for about half game to the third quarter and then midway to the third quarter we just tire out and they start scoring on us.”
