Strong second half lifts Northwood water polo team to 11-8 victory over Edison

Northwood’s Danny Kim wraps around the shot blocker for a goal during Tuesday’s match with Edison. (Photo courtesy Maki Abshier, Northwood water polo)

Northwood’s boys water polo team improved its record to 7-4 overall with an 11-8 victory Tuesday over Edison, the third-ranked team in this week’s CIF Division 2 poll.

It was a strong defensive effort for both teams in the first half with Edison holding a 3-2 lead. But Northwood outscored Edison 9-5 in the second half to notch the win.

Junior Iacopo Cagnoni led Northwood with four goals, three assists and four steals.

Freshman Dean Witt and senior Danny Kim had two goals each, while sophmore Michael Abshier, senior Ethan Chen and senior Curtis Sung each had a goal. Junior goalie Aditya Hari had four saves, while junior Aden Hong made his goalie debut recording two saves.

Northwood was able to bounce back after struggling at last weekend’s South Coast Tournament.

“We had a rough weekend at the South Coast Tournament,” said Northwood Coach Kyle Kim-E. “Since we compete in it each year, I know how competitive the tournament is but I didn’t expect for our team to go winless. I think it was good timing though because the tournament exposed a lot of our flaws and weaknesses on an individual and team level.

“I think you need to get beat up a little bit to learn exactly what you need to work on in order to improve. So while the guys may not necessarily feel like it, I think they’ll understand it was still a helpful tournament that will make us a stronger team at the end of the day. I think getting a win over a tough Edison team was some proof.”

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