The Lakers lead by 11 in the fourth quarter and win easily vs. T-Wolves
It was another day ending in the letter “Y.”
And therefore?
Therefore, it was another win for the Lake Oswego boys water polo team.
The Lakers, the reigning Oregon High School Water Polo champions, won their 53rd straight game on Wednesday, Oct. 5 — and 18th straight this year — by beating Tualatin 14-5 at Lake Oswego School District Pool.
The top-ranked Lakers, hosting the No. 4 Timberwolves in Three Rivers League play, allowed just three goals through three quarters and used their stifling defense to win easily.
“We run what is called a heavy press, where we press out as heavy as we possibly can,” said Lake Oswego senior Hudson Schneider, who scored all three of his goals in the first half against Tualatin before the LO starters gave way to reserves for most of the second half. “Our goal is to slow down the other team, to create pressure on their passes — hopefully, we can get some steals — waste the clock away and just hammer on them constantly.”
“Defense. Defense is the best offense,” said LO junior Ford Bovich, who scored once and helped power the Lakers’ defense against Tualatin. “We pressed really hard, we’d steal the ball and convert it on offense right away.”
With the win, the team’s 18th straight this year, the Lakers improved to 4-0 in the Three Rivers League and 18-0 overall. Tualatin, meanwhile, lost for the second straight time after winning six straight before that, and fell to 2-2 in TRL play and 12-4 overall. Next up, Lake Oswego plays at Tigard at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10.
The Lakers started fast on Wednesday, getting two Schneider goals in the first quarter and one each from Bovich, senior Carlo Cremona and sophomore Henry Saur — with Saur connecting off a pass from senior Jackson Barney with 49 seconds left in the period — to lead the Timberwolves 5-2. Both of Tualatin’s goals came from senior Theo Buchwald.
Lake Oswego shifted into top gear in the second quarter, holding the Wolves scoreless in the period while the Lakers poured across six unanswered goals and extended their lead to 11-2 at halftime. Schneider and sophomore Kane Saur notched the first two goals of the stanza, while Cremona — last year’s TRL and state tournament MVP — did the rest, connecting three times in the final 1:55 of the half. His first goal was set up by senior Eric Miller, his second came from five yards out and his third on a break assisted by LO sophomore goalie Aidan Shannon.
The Lakers, playing their non-starters most of the way in the second half, saw their lead crest at 14-3 when freshman Kai Makino took a pass from junior Kole Caylor and scored with 3:33 left in the contest and coasted home from there.
“I think we’re playing (well),” Bovich said. “We just need to warm up before every game, get ready, and if we just do that, we’ll win every game, I think.”
“We are coming together more and more as a team, we’re learning each other’s play style a lot more,” Schneider added. “We only have a few players who (returned) from last year’s starting lineup, (but) … we’ve finally started clicking together and understanding each other’s play style.”
For the game, Cremona led LO with four goals, while Schneider had three and Kane Saur two. For Tualatin, Buchwald led the way with two scores.
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