Water Dawgs win two of three at San Diego Open

By Joe Naiman

Ramona High School’s boys water polo team won two games and lost three at the San Diego Open tournament Oct. 24-29.

The five tournament games sandwiched a pair of Palomar League losses, giving the Bulldogs a 2-5 record for the week.

Ramona’s first tournament game Oct. 24 was a 6-5 loss to La Jolla Country Day at Santana High School. The Torres scored both first-period goals, but the Bulldogs had both scores in the second quarter.

“We matched them,” said Coach Donnie Williams.

The Torres led by a 4-3 margin entering the fourth quarter. Ramona tied the game early in the final quarter and took a 5-4 lead before the Torres tied the game on a counterattack and scored the deciding goal.

The Bulldogs took 19 shots against La Jolla Country Day.

“We had plenty of opportunities. We’re still having trouble finishing,” Williams said.

Each team drew five exclusions and scored on three man-up or penalty shot opportunities.

“Not too bad,” Williams said. “I’m not too unhappy with that.”

The Oct. 25 match at Rancho Bernardo was a 13-6 loss. The Broncos led by only a 3-2 margin after one quarter.

“We started off pretty strong,” Williams said.

Rancho Bernardo had a 7-4 halftime lead before dominating the second half.

“We had attempts but were still pushing on shots,” Williams said.

The 15-4 home loss Oct. 27 against Torrey Pines saw the Falcons score all six goals in the first period and hold an 11-2 halftime lead.

Ramona returned to San Diego Open play with two Oct. 28 matches at Santana. The first was a 10-6 loss to Valley Center.

“We failed to complete our shots,” Williams said.

The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and 4-4 at halftime. The Jaguars had a 6-5 lead after three quarters.

“Then we just fell apart really bad,” Williams said.

The Bulldogs had a better ending later that evening against Monte Vista even though the Monarchs had a 3-1 lead after the first quarter and a 4-1 lead during the second period.

“They had a couple of big shooters who would shoot from outside,” Williams said of Monte Vista.

The Bulldogs scored the three remaining second-period goals and had scored the nine most recent goals when the third period ended with Ramona holding a 10-4 lead.

“We really kind of got our wind,” Williams said.

Ramona ended the game on the favorable end of a 12-6 score.

“That was a good win for us,” Williams said.

Ramona’s two Oct. 29 matches were played at El Capitan High School. The morning game was a 9-8 loss to Del Norte. The Nighthawks scored on five of eight man-up opportunities while Ramona was successful in two of five extra-player situations.

“That made the difference in that game,” Williams said.

Del Norte scored the first period’s only goal and led 4-3 at halftime. The Bulldogs came back to lead 6-5 at the end of three quarters.

“Final score was kind of disappointing,” Williams said.

Ramona closed out the tournament against High Tech High. The Storm held a 3-2 lead when the buzzer to end the first period sounded.

“Then we started hitting our shots and counterattacking on them,” Williams said.

Ramona led by a 6-3 margin at halftime and had an 8-4 cushion after three quarters before ending the game with a 13-7 victory.

“That was a good way to at least finish the weekend,” Williams said.

The win over High Tech High improved Ramona’s season record to 9-17, including a Palomar League record of 0-8.

The Bulldogs close out the regular season today at Mount Carmel.