The San Benito High boys water polo team opened up the season with a 19-7 drubbing of visiting Harbor on Thursday. Daniel Reimer, a 16-year-old senior, had a match-high seven goals to lead seven different goal scorers. The Haybalers know things will be considerably tougher once they play some of the top teams in the Monterey Bay League next week.
But as first games go, this was exactly what the Balers wanted—a win and a chance to finally play against another team.
“The first game you want to work the kinks out,” coach Brendan Sigourney said. “I think the kids know they have a lot of room to grow.”
Reimer scored all seven of his goals in the first half, including the game’s first five to give San Benito a huge boost late in the opening period. The Balers led 6-1 after one and 12-5 at halftime before extending their lead in the second half. San Benito scored on three consecutive 6-on-5 opportunities bridging the first and second periods, a positive sign considering it had trouble capitalizing on the man advantage a year ago.
“Our 6-on-5 was pretty fluid,” Sigourney said.
However, Sigourney said the team’s defense has a lot to be desired, as Harbor scored on some shots from long distance while also working the ball to the front of the San Benito goal at times.
“We’d like to keep things more manageable on defense,” Sigourney said. “But overall I liked how we played a team game, how we drove well on the perimeter and played well in our sets.”
Jake Last had three goals for the Balers and Mason Crawford added two scores. Reimer, a foreign-exchange student from Germany, impressed early and often. With 5 minutes, 43 seconds left in the second, he moved a defender out of his way before slamming a shot into the back of the Harbor goal for a 8-3 advantage.
