On Wednesday, September 9th, the Irvington Boys Varsity Water Polo team faced off against James Logan High School, ending in a tough defeat of 2-25.
Head Coach Max Houlihan understands the challenges of competing against teams that were established a long time ago, while remaining hopeful for the remainder of the season. “The players are already trying hard, but it’s difficult to keep up with some already pretty developed teams. But I think we can bounce back pretty well, especially later in the season. Right now, it’s just the beginning. We can only go up,” Houlihan said. “Despite the loss and playing a lot of really good teams, we might struggle a bit against those good teams, but I’m in for the long run,” he continued. “My philosophy is work hard now, and it’ll get easy later.”
Irvington found moments of success during the match with Ojas Rokade (12) and Landon Castaneda (10) each scoring a goal. These highlights gave the team some momentum and kept them going strong.
While reflecting on the game, Co-Captain Ryan Lee (12), pointed out some of the difficulties the team had faced, one of them being playing under defensive pressure. “We were put under a lot of pressure. I think we need to work on pressure passing, because we’re getting pressed out a lot,” Lee explained. “A lot of the other teams didn’t press us out as much, so we really struggled with that today.”
Areas of improvement that the players emphasized include sharpening pressure passing, attending practices consistently, and improving endurance.
Despite the loss, Lee recognizes the efforts of his teammates. “From what I saw, everyone was putting their full effort, and I really appreciated that. We need to work on our swimming, but I could see that everyone was swimming at their best.” Looking ahead, Lee is pretty optimistic about future games, and is especially excited for Senior Night. “We have a pretty big team this year, bigger than the past couple years and I think the team we’re playing is more on our level.”
The Viking’s loss may have been a tough start, but it also revealed areas for growth. Both Coach Houlihan andLee remain confident that with hard work and dedication, the team will bounce back within no time. For Irvington, this season isn’t defined by one lopsided defeat, but by the drive to keep improving.
