Sobrato’s Lucas Salem knows the 2012 Bulldog boys water polo team has a lot to live up to. After finishing in second place in the Blossom Valley’s Mount Hamilton Athletic League last year, Sobrato has entered the new season with a lot of turnover.
But the senior Salem still excepts the best out of the Bulldogs this year, he said. So far Sobrato has earned a 3-3 record, including Wednesday’s last-minute 8-7 loss to Aragon.
“I think we are all trying really hard,” Salem said. “All the kids that come to practice are improving that’s for sure. I just want to keep getting better and better throughout the season. I think, I’m surprised we are this good already. I just remember the first day of practice looking around and seeing players that haven’t played before.”
Against Aragon, Salem was the Bulldogs main offensive focus, leading Sobrato with four goals and four steals.
“Lucas is a smart player – he is a senior,” Sobrato head coach David Letts said. “He has really stepped up this year and I’m excited to see how good of a season he is going to have. He really has started stepping up in the last year. He has improved a lot in the last four years.”
Playing center, Salem controlled the pace of play on both sides against Aragon, leading the game in shots on goal. Two minutes into the game, he scored the game’s first goal on a long pass that sailed across the pool.
With the ball in the air, Salem stuck out his arm and deflected the ball past the Dons’ goalie. Despite strong defense, Sobrato was never able to pull away from Aragon, which stayed within one goal throughout the afternoon.
Neither team held a lead larger than one goal during the contest. For Letts, the defense was a good sign after it became the team’s focus during the past week, he said.
“We worked on our transition defense in all levels – varsity and J.V.,” Letts said. “Today, we showed that we learned from practice, which is always a good thing to see it transition in a game. So that was good.”
The team’s strong defense gave Sobrato a 3-2 lead after the first quarter. The Bulldogs took their second lead with less than three minutes remaining in the first when Ben Jackson took a crossing pass from Salem, and scored on a quick shot. Salem scored the quarter’s final goal with 30 seconds left by stealing the ball from the Dons’ goalie in front of the net.
Sobrato kept its one goal lead throughout the second and third quarters as the Bulldogs answered every Aragon goal with one of their own.
John Anderson gave the Bulldogs a 4-3 halftime lead when he took a rebound from Parth Shah and scored past the confused Aragon goalie. Sobrato almost took a two-goal lead into the second half after Salem stole the ball from Aragon at mid-pool but missed the ensuing open shot.
Sobrato goalie Logan Mosher made eight saves, as he started to receive more pressure in the second half. At the same time, Sobrato’s offense started to slow down and struggle.
Scoring only three second-half goals, Sobrato lost its lead in the final quarter.
Aragon tied the game at 6-6 less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, and took the lead a minute later. In the game’s final moments, injuries, finally, started to take its toll on the Bulldogs’ offense.
“We’ve had some injuries,” Letts said. “We had a couple of people who were coming off of injuries early in the season. (I’m) Not making excuses but it’s a hard thing to take.”
They effect was most noticeable on the offensive end, where the Bulldog chances dwindled. Instead the team started to put more effort on the defensive end.
“The offense is going to come,” Letts said. “It’s all about shutting down other teams. Then you’ll win more games than not. We are focused on the defense for now and we will go from there.”
Aragon’s David Gorn, though, had other ideas, scoring the game-winning goal with a little more than three minutes left in the contest. Sobrato couldn’t control Gorn, who floated near the net all afternoon and scored a game-high five goals.
Despite the loss, there were a lot of positive sign for the Bulldogs as they try to win the MHAL title, Letts said.
“It’s always a goal to win league,” Letts said. “The league is strong and we’ve lost a lot of players, but we have some returning players so it’s going to be time for these guys to step up this year and come through. It’s a relatively young team but they have a great attitude and they come to practice working hard. You can’t ask for more than that.”
The season would be a success for Salem if the team simply beats Live Oak, he said.
“I want to beat Live Oak, which is the last game of the season,” Salem said. “So just build up to that. I’ll be perfectly happy, graduating knowing we beat Live Oak.”
Sobrato’s league season begins at home Wednesday against Willow Glen. The game starts at 5 p.m.
