The Aliso Niguel boys water polo team opened up their league season against Capistrano Valley High School resulting in a close game.
The game took place at Aliso on Sept. 24. In its entirety, both teams were neck to neck as they were consistently scoring against each other. In the end, Aliso prevailed taking the win with a score of 15-10.
The boys have participated in two tournaments so far this season. The Chris Weisz tournament took place from Sept. 19 to Sept. 21. The Villa Park tournament took place on Sept. 6 to Sept. 7.
Aliso played St. Mark’s High School, Esperanza High School, Villa Park High School, Temecula Valley High School and La Serna High School in the Chris Weisz tournament. Out of the five games played, the boys won four of them.
Aliso first played St. Mark’s and came close to winning as the team was only one point behind. With winning on their minds, Aliso controlled the following games in the tournament leaving their opponents behind. Esperanza and Villa Park played each other the following day. The final score for both games was 13-7 and 18-9.
Aliso played Temecula Valley and La Serna on Sept. 21. The boys started off the day with a win against Temecula Valley with a final score of 11-6. Their following game was close, yet Aliso played strong until the end which resulted in a win with a final score of 8-7.
Aliso played Valencia High School, Esperanza High School, Millikan High School and El Dorado High School in the Villa Park tournament. Out of the four games played, the boys won three of them.
The team played Valencia and Esperanza on Sept. 6 and took home wins against both teams.
The final score against Valencia was 14-5, nearly tripling their opponents score. Aliso dominated against Esperanza and left the pool with a 15-2 win.
Three year varsity water polo and swim athlete, Gavin Gabal (11) states, “I think I played somewhat well individually in the Villa Park tournament, but what I really enjoyed was the way our team came together and fought through each game collectively.”
In preparation for league, Aliso went up against Dana Hills High School, Brea Olinda High School, Carlsbad High School, El Toro High School and Tesoro High School.
When asked about a game the team is looking forward to playing, Widarto stated, “The San Clemente game is definitely something to look forward to because it is the last game of the season and we need to win that to win league.”
Overall, the team has won 16 of the 20 games they have played. With a winning percentage of 80, the team is ranked second in the Sea View league.
The Captains leading the team this year are Widarto, Hooper and Matt Lynch (11).
The team hosted a senior night for its four graduating seniors: Gabe Widarto, Cash Hooper, Jacob Phillips and Alex Silyaev. All four players were celebrated by their families, friends, teammates and coaches on Sept. 12.
