IRVINE- On Tuesday, October 11, the Beckman Boys’ Varsity Water Polo team played against the Irvine High Vaqueros. Although Beckman competed at a high level, they were unable to overcome Irvine’s intensity and lost 11-15.
     Within the first five minutes of the game, Irvine managed to put the ball in the back of the net. However, that did not discourage Patriot senior Paul Chong, who carried the team on his back and scored a goal to tie the game at 1-1. Beckman continued to fight like winners despite the outcome and their effort showed in their playmaking. Chong commented, “It was a close game. It felt like we played really hard. They’re a pretty good team. We’ve played really well and we have a good chance of beating them next time.”
     Although at first, it looked like Irvine was dominating the game, Beckman went on to score 3 goals within those very first five minutes that Irvine tried to own and placed themselves ahead 6-5. Unfortunately, that was not enough to give them the win for the day, as Irvine’s aggressiveness and coordination in the water got the best of the Patriots later on. The Vaqueros edged out more goals in the remaining quarters and triumphed because of those crucial third and fourth quarters.
     Senior and captain Kyle Jackson stated, “We played hard and it showed that even though we were probably the underdogs; we played hard and kept fighting through to the end.”
     It was a well fought game for both teams, but as it always is in sports, only one team could be the winner. Beckman will use this game to build experience, key in on different aspects of their game to work on, and bring home a victory the next time they compete.