Woodbridge boys water polo holds off rally by Dana Hills and wins 11-7

Joseph Faza of Woodbridge looks to pass off during Wednesday’s game.

Woodbridge’s boys water polo team held off a third quarter rally by Dana Hills to capture an 11-7 nonleague victory Wednesday afternoon at Woodbridge.

“I think we played well,” said Woodbridge Coach Matt Campbell. “We have some lapses, it’s early in the season but that’s a good win. We played Dana Hills and we play San Clemente next week. Those guys will be fighting it out for league. They will be top tiered teams in our division. This was a big match-up and a good start.”

To see the slide show, please click on the first photo.

Woodbridge (2-0) held a 7-4 lead at halftime but Dana Hills (1-1) outscored the Warriors 3-1 in the third quarter to cut the lead to one going into the final stanza.

However, goals by Aria Ghajar, Dylan Patist and Alec Isaacman gave the Warriors a comfortable four goal lead.

Freshman Nikola Mirkovic led Woodbridge with three goals.

“Nikola is a nice addition coming off the bench for us,” Campbell said. “He’s got some polo experience and that helps.”

Isaacman, Ghajar and Patist had two goals each.

Dana Hills was led by Kaden Likens with three goals.

The Dolphins held Woodbridge to a 3-3 tie after one quarter but couldn’t sustain the effort.

“I thought it was a good competitive match; I thought they made a few more plays than we did obviously,” said Dana Hills Coach Matt Rosa. “We really struggled in our half-court offense and that was the difference. Too many turnovers and not enough offensive opportunities generated and that was the difference.

“They were able to capitalize on our turnovers so I think it was kind of our bad offense that was the difference in the game. We’ve got some good players and they’ve got some pride and we put together a little push and made it good. I knew it was going to be a competitive game. Unfortunately, Woodbridge came out and made the plays at the beginning of the fourth and we came up short.”