San Benito will enter next week’s TCAL Tournament as the No. 2
seed after an 11-9 victory against the Palma Chieftains on
Tuesday
HOLLISTER
San Benito boys water polo coach Tom Agan has called it the team’s M.O., in the past, and on Tuesday it may have helped the Haybalers clinch the No. 2 seed in the Tri-County Athletic League.
Up 9-8 in the fourth quarter against Palma, San Benito found themselves in a man-down situation after goalie Kyle Reuther committed a foul, leaving an empty net for the Chieftains to take advantage.
But before Palma could even attempt a shot and possibly tie the match at 9-all, San Benito’s defense stymied the attack when Nick Angulo intercepted a lofted pass. It ended what was perhaps Palma’s last shot of upending the ‘Balers, which went on to win the match by an 11-9 margin.
“We knew Palma was going to be tough,” Agan said. “I’ve been saying all along that it’s us, Carmel, Stevenson and Palma for second place. At least on paper, we’ve got it for a while.”
The second-place standing supplies San Benito – now at 6-1 in league and 9-8 overall – with the No. 2 seed at next week’s TCAL Tournament, scheduled for Nov. 3-8.
“This just seeds TCALs, so it really doesn’t mean anything other than that,” Agan said. “But it’s nice to go in with a high seed, as you’re going to play an easier match on your way to the championship.”
Only Salinas, which is undefeated in the TCAL, sits in front of the ‘Balers. But if San Benito has any shot of upsetting the Cowboys next week, it will take a near-perfect performance.
“It’s gonna take us playing our best game to be able to beat Salinas,” said Ryan Whiteside, who had four goals and three steals to lead the ‘Balers on Tuesday. “And yeah, that’s basically it. It’s going to take us playing our best and for them to hopefully not be playing their best.”
Previously on Sept. 16, Salinas beat San Benito 18-8 in a game that included a second quarter where the Cowboys outscored the ‘Balers 7-1.
“We’re gonna try. We’re gonna work hard. We have some things we need to work on still, but we’re really gonna try for it,” said Reuther, who had 12 saves against Palma. “[Salinas’] passing is really on par, even under pressure.”
Reuther showed off his own passing skills when he delivered a strike to a streaking Angulo midway through the final stanza on Tuesday. Angulo pocketed the score, his third on the day, and supplied the ‘Balers with a three-goal lead with four minutes to play in regulation.
Palma would only score one more time in the match.
“We were going into the (Palma) game a little bit unsure about it because we heard that they played Salinas to a 6-2 game, and we had a really hard time with Salinas,” Whiteside said. “We were a little bit unsure, but we were going into it confident and thought we were going to pull it off.”
San Benito started off strong when they took a 4-1 lead just three minutes into the game. But the offense stalled for the remainder of the first half, and the ‘Balers carried a narrow 6-5 lead into the break.
Agan, who graded the offense a “C” on Tuesday, said the team kept reverting back to what it was familiar with.
“It seems like we were forcing the ball to two-meter an awful lot, and we weren’t productive out of two-meter at all,” Agan said. “It’s too familiar. It’s too easy for them. Instead of running our offense that I want to run, that we have more success with where it’s very dynamic and very fluid, we’re too comfortable throwing the guy in at two-meter and forcing the ball to him.”
San Benito had to play the majority of the match without its leading scorer in Jordan Schafer, who had three separate kick-outs which leads to an automatic ejection in water polo. He finished with one goal.
“We were fortunate we’re deep enough to pull it off,” Agan said.
Eric Nicolaysen had two goals for San Benito, while Thomas Parcell added a score.
In the third quarter, Palma managed to tie the game at 6-all, but they were never able to take the lead. San Benito took a 9-7 lead to the fourth, and although the Chieftains would cut it to one, Angulo’s steal prevented Palma from coming any closer.
San Benito, which will need to win twice before even having a chance at Salinas, will open against the No. 7 seed at next week’s TCAL Tournament.
“It was ultimately our goal to take first,” Reuther said. “But after Salinas, we really wanted to push for second just to get another shot at Salinas.”
