vs. Memorial

The Spartans Boys Water Polo Team kicked off their District schedule this past Friday night at the SBISD Natatorium against the red rivals from the east end of the district. A packed house showed up for this one with it pretty evenly split between Green and red. This would be the see-saw affair that we have come to expect when these two rivals meet.

Memorial would waste no time getting the scoring going as they put their first shot on goal into the net less than 30 seconds into the game. A minute and 15 seconds later they added their second goal and took a quick 2-0 lead. The Mustangs showed early that they were going to double- and triple-team our leading scorer Luke Barber and that other people were going to have to beat them. Fortunately, many of the boys would step up on this night. The Spartans were able to right the ship on defense and hold the Mustangs scoreless through the rest of the quarter. Meanwhile, on the offensive end, Nathan Moss got the Spartans on the board midway through the period with a really nice shot on an assist from Austin Chao. Just over a minute later, Luke Barber would score on a super-nice backhanded shot as the shot clock was expiring to tie the score at 2-2. The defenses would then stiffen up and that is how the quarter would end.

The defense for both squads would keep things in check for the first two minutes of the second period before Josh Rebollar slipped inside and drew a 5-meter infraction on the Memorial defense, and Luke Barber then rifled home the 5-meter free shot to give the mighty Spartans their first lead at the 4:59 mark. The defenses would then go to work for another couple minutes before Marin Pavlin rifled home a great shot from about 4 meters out to push the Spartan lead to 4-2. Andy Zhuri was once again superb in goal-blocking numerous point-blank shots and one Memorial 5-meter free shot, ending the period with 8 saves. Unfortunately, Memorial was able to score on a man advantage with :03 seconds remaining to cut the Spartan lead to 4-3 at the half.

The third quarter would see some more tough defense from both squads, but Memorial would eventually get another man advantage and take advantage to pull even at 4 apiece with 4:29 to play. Just over a minute later, Luke Barber would answer the Mustang goal when he rifled one home from the right wing, putting the mighty Spartans back in the lead at 5-4. Unfortunately, it would not last long as the Mustangs answered with 2:21 to play to pull back even at 5, which is where the 3rd period would eventually end after some brilliant saves by Andy Zhuri.

The final period would see the Spartans retake the lead early when Ricky Conticello hustled and scooped a rebound from a Nathan Moss shot and stuck the ball in the goal. The Spartan defense powered by Zhuri in goal would stymie the Mustangs for another 4:54, but the Mustangs would eventually score with 1:02 to tie things up at 6. The mighty Spartans were not done though as Josh Rebollar was able to crash in toward the goal and get a perfect feed from Ricky Conticello, which he then shoved in the back of the net to give the Spartans the 7-6 lead with :37 to play. The Spartan defense would then put the clamps on the Mustangs,  and they would not get another serious shot off before time expired and the Spartans claimed the very hard-fought victory.

This was by far the most well-rounded effort by the team this season. At 1-0 the Spartans will next look to take on another District rival and one of the top teams in the state of Texas, the Crusaders of Strake Jesuit. That game will take place this Tuesday at 7:00 pm at the SBISD Natatorium.

vs. Lamar and Foster

Following the emotional victory on Friday night, the boys had to return to the pool early Saturday morning for two more non-District matchups against Lamar and Foster. Needless to say, the boys were emotionally and physically spent and were not able to play anywhere near their standard of excellence. The entire team really struggled, and they dropped both games in lopsided fashion. They will now work hard to prepare for the Crusaders and try to get their first victory over Strake in at least 4 years.