Bulldog water polo splits with Ravens, Golden Eagles
Ramona High School’s boys water polo team lost its 2009 Valley League opener against Canyon Crest before defeating San Pasqual in a non-league game.
The 10-7 loss to the Ravens Sept. 16 at the Jewish Community Center in La Jolla and the 13-8 victory over the Golden Eagles Sept. 18 against Escondido gave Ramona a 4-3 overall record for the season.
“They’re starting to come together,” Coach Donnie Williams said of his players. “Every game we play a little bit better together.”
The Ravens began the league opener by taking a 4-0 lead, although the Bulldogs closed the gap to 4-2 by the end of the first period. In the second period Ramona was able to narrow the Canyon Crest lead to 5-3 before the Ravens scored the final three goals of the half and subsequently posted the third period’s only score.
“We closed it up a little bit,” Williams said of the fourth-quarter scoring.
“We made a lot of mental errors,” Williams said of the game against Canyon Crest. “Hopefully next time around we’ll match up.”
The mental errors were reduced against San Pasqual.
“We played a lot better,” Williams said. “We still let them come back into the game.”
Ramona led 3-0 after the first period and 7-2 at halftime, but the Golden Eagles were able to tie the game at eight goals apiece by the end of the third quarter.
“We stopped playing tough defense,” Williams said. “It should be a good lesson for the kids.”
While Williams utilized some substitutes in the third quarter to give his starters a rest, he noted that the team lost aggressiveness on defense as well as on offense.
“We cannot play less aggressive on the defense,” he said.
Ramona took a 9-8 lead seven seconds into the fourth period.
“That was huge,” Williams said. “I think that kind of set them back a little bit.”
The game was Ramona’s second of the season against San Pasqual. In the Poway Invitational tournament the Bulldogs played the Golden Eagles in a Sept. 12 match and won 16-15 in three overtimes.
“I think our kids kind of realized what we need to do,” Williams said.
The Bulldogs will travel to San Marcos for a league match tomorrow.