Alec Isaacman takes a shot for Woodbridge under pressure from Northwood’s Cameron An Thursday in a Pacific Coast League match at Northwood. (Photos courtesy Michael An).
Woodbridge’s boys water polo team inched closer to its first Pacific Coast League title but had to hold off a tough challenge from Northwood before winning 10-8 Thursday afternoon at Northwood.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo.
Woodbridge has a 7-0 league mark with three league games left.
Woodbridge Coach Matt Campbell has opted not to talk about the Warriors (13-3 overall) winning a league title, saying his team must focus on each game.
But he expected a battle Thursday.
“Northwood at Northwood, a very competitive game,” he said. “Northwood played as hard as I’ve seen them play and we played well and they played well so I think it was a great game to watch.”
Northwood (9-6, 5-2) needed a victory to move into a tie for first place. Now, the Warriors have a two-game lead over the Timberwolves, who will most likely be headed to the CIF playoffs in Division 3. Woodbridge will most likely be in the Division 2 playoff bracket.
“Both teams knew what was on the line,” Campbell said. “That was just a great water polo game on both sides.”
Northwood coach Kyle Kim-E also expected a battle.
“We knew going into this game that Woodbridge was going to play a similar defense and offense as last time,” he said. “We made some adjustments and we not only held them to less goals but we also scored more than the last time and ultimately held one of the top ranked teams to 10 goals. We wanted to win, of course, but I think everyone knows and feels like we played a good, strong four quarters of water polo today.
“And at the end of a day, as a coach, that’s exactly what I expect and hope to see from our team each game: that we play confidently, composed, smart and never give up.”
Woodbridge was led by Solan Kedzie, who had four goals and Riley Pittman and Alec Isaacman who had two goals each.
Northwood was led by Max Abravanel, Christopher Pukszta and Leo Glassman, who had two goals each.
Woodbridge jumped out to a 4-1 lead but Northwood outscored Woodbridge 3-2 in the second quarter to cut the Warriors’ halftime lead to 6-4. Woodbridge led 7-5 after three quarters. Then Kedzie and Dylan Patist scored goals early in the final stanza to seal the victory.
“I feel like we just did what we usually do and just keep on playing through it,” Kedzie said. “We don’t always have momentum on our side, you just have to make your own momentum by swimming hard and playing defense.”
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone: timburt@ocsportszone.com
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