Although it defeated Palma 10-9 during its regular-season
finale, the San Benito High boys water polo team was unable to make
it two in a row against the Chieftains on Wednesday during the
quarterfinal round of the Tri-County Athletic League Tournament, as
the Balers lost by a 15-10 margin in Carmel.
CARMEL
Although it defeated Palma 10-9 during its regular-season finale, the San Benito High boys water polo team was unable to make it two in a row against the Chieftains on Wednesday during the quarterfinal round of the Tri-County Athletic League Tournament, as the Balers lost by a 15-10 margin in Carmel.
The loss places San Benito into Friday’s fifth- and sixth-place consolation match against Watsonville at Santa Catalina. Match time is 5 p.m.
Wednesday’s defeat, meanwhile, took the Balers out of title contention after they compiled a 4-3 record in the TCAL this season.
“We were really flat,” San Benito head coach Tom Agan said. “It didn’t seem like we had a lot of hustle.
“Nobody was clicking and things were just off.”
Palma jumped out to a 3-0 lead to open the game, and although San Benito tied the match at 3-all behind a pair of goals from Nick Angulo and one goal from Josh Schafer, the Chieftains deposited four of the next five goals to take a 7-4 lead to the break.
Palma had a 10-4 lead at one point, its largest of the game. But while San Benito cut the deficit to three midway through the fourth quarter, it was unable to get any closer.
“We made a ton of mistakes and we didn’t play with a passion,” Agan said.
Angulo finished with six goals for San Benito, which falls to 9-13 overall. Schafer had three goals total, while Eric Nicolaysen added one.
