On Oct. 5, the boys water polo team (4-4 Peninsula Athletic League) faced Mills (6-3 PAL). Despite beating them earlier in the season, the Dons lost 10-5.
The first quarter began with the Vikings taking advantage of miscues from the Dons, scoring on two goals. But the Dons responded when sophomore Peter Martin scored with three minutes left in the quarter bringing the score to 2-1.
Senior Giorgio Petrakis started off the second quarter with two shots on goal, but both were saved by Mills goalkeeper Nuri Capagnoglu.
Sophomore goalie Jack Rayborn, new to his position, had two saves late in the second quarter to prevent Mills from expanding their lead.
Although Mills scored two goals in the second quarter, junior Alex Torres netted one to close out the half, cutting the Vikings’ lead to 4-2. Aragon junior Fabrizio Cuervo scored in the third quarter, and Rayborn saved two shots. However, Mills continued to take advantage of Aragon’s poor transitions and scored twice.
“Our offense and defense were fine, but our transitions were killing us,” Petrakis said. “Pretty much all the goals they scored on us were through the transitions, and so we weren’t getting back on defense, and it hurt us.”
Petrakis scored a goal with his back almost completely turned away from the goal, sliding the ball past Capagnoglu and into the lower left corner of the net. His goal closed the Vikings’ lead to 6-4 at the end of the third quarter. Senior Aaron Nguyen managed to score a late consolation goal for the Dons.
“I think they wanted it more than we did,” said Petrakis. “We’ve beaten them once this season and they definitely weren’t happy about it.”
Up next, the Dons will host on Capuchino on Oct. 10.
