Portola boys water polo team celebrates milestone win over Beckman in PCL opener

Portola’s Noam Garibi (No. 7), No. 9 Ryan Aminloo and No. 2 Luke Porter head toward the deck after a big run Thursday. (Photo: OC Sports Zone, Tim Burt).

Portola High School’s boys water polo team made history Thursday afternoon in the Pacific Coast League opener vs. Beckman.

The visiting Bulldogs, ranked No. 2 in this week’s CIF Division 3 poll, defeated the Patriots 10-6, marking the program’s first varsity win over Beckman, said Portola Coach Kate Avery.

“It feels good, that was our first win against Beckman ever in the (six-year) history of our school,” Avery said. “It’s really significant. It was one of our better games, we had a bit of a rough second quarter. We started the game really strong and we let them score three goals in the second. That was not great, so we changed it up at the half and it worked.”

Portola (13-2 overall) led 4-3 at halftime but dominated the third quarter outscoring the Patriots 5-1.

“They just had this intensity and this drive to win; they wanted to beat this team really badly and this is what happens when the team puts their mind to it,” Avery said.

“I’m really proud of them, it feels great; Beckman is a great team and a great program so this one feels extra special.”

Portola was led by junior Noam Garibi, who had a match high five goals. Ryder Tonkovich had three goals and Kasra Sowlati and Luke Porter had one goal each.

Beckman, ranked eighth in the CIF Division 2 poll this week, was led by Zander Huynh, who had three goals.

Portola is looking for another big season after reaching the semifinal round of the CIF Division 4 playoffs last year. The Bulldogs have moved up a playoff division, but Avery is still optimistic. Last year’s appearance in the playoffs was the first for the program.

“We’re hoping to get further this year,” Avery said. “There are a lot of really good teams in D3, Irvine (ranked first) obviously being one of them, Damien being another. We played Capistrano Valley two weeks ago and we beat them by one, they’re a good team as well. There is definitely some competition in Division 3 that we’re excited for and we want that challenge. I’m just excited that Portola now is on the map, that we’re a team to talk about. It hasn’t always been like that.”

Portola goalkeeper Grant Kramer had six saves and stopped a penalty shot in the final seconds of the match.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com