William Jiang

Sam Li (10) holds the ball overhead to fake a shot before passing it to a teammate for an assist. Sam demonstrated teamwork and communication throughout the game, setting up three goals for his teammates.

Varsity boys water polo defeated Fremont High School 21-5 on Oct. 11. 

Senior Adam Pawliger won the opening swim-off, allowing sophomore Ian Cheline to lob a pass to senior Oskar Baumgarte, who landed a tap-in for the opening goal. Harker’s constant pressure paid off when Ian intercepted a pass in Fremont’s side and drew a penalty. Senior Caio Cammer scored the five-meter to double the Eagles’ lead to 2-0.

Harker pressured Fremont, cutting off the Firebirds’ space and limiting their decision-making time. The Eagles kept the Firebirds from creating any scoring opportunities while also finding chances for points off counters. With two goals each from captain Vyom Vidyarthi (12) and Aden Liu (9), the Eagles surged ahead to a 7-0 lead. 

In the final minute of the quarter, Sam Li (10) and Oskar each netted a point. Goalkeeper Alejandro Cheline (11) saved a penalty to keep the Firebirds goalless. Scoring their first goal of the game, the Firebirds caught Alejandro off guard with a back-hand shot to end the period 9-1. 

Ian praised the team’s nearly flawless performance in the first quarter.

“The first quarter was the best job we have done coming out,” Ian said. “We usually slowly start to come out and our best quarter is the fourth. This game, we did really well at starting with the intensity we needed to carry through it to the end.”

Fremont ramped up their defensive pressure in the second quarter, but the Eagles continued to uphold their solid defense, preventing the Firebirds from scoring a single goal. Oskar and Caio repeatedly thwarted the Firebirds’ attacks with key interceptions and blocks.

Spectator and junior varsity player David Tang (10) attributed the Eagles’ success in the first half to their defense.

“The defense especially was really strong,” David said. “They were pressing a lot and they managed to steal a lot of balls in the opponents’ half. They were really proactive on that.”

Harker netted four goals in total during the quarter, with Vyom assisting Oskar in a pass into the interior, and Ian scoring from a tight angle from the wing. Aden commended Ian for his ability to capitalize on his two scoring opportunities of the quarter and to convert difficult chances into goals.

“He took advantage of counters, and he finished all of them,” Aden said. “That, combined with the good defense that he played the entire game, led to the score we got.”

Ossi Carrico (9) opened the third quarter with a penalty goal, and Aden scored an additional two points in the following plays. Despite Harker’s initial control, Fremont responded by scoring three goals in a row off the counter. Harker recovered with a goal from Vyom and a save from Alejandro to bring the score to 18-4.

The pace of the game slowed as Harker shifted their focus to defense rather than a high press. Both sides were unable to score until halfway through the fourth quarter when Akash Dubey (10) faked a shot to set up Aden for a goal. Although the Firebirds momentarily interrupted the Eagles’ control by scoring a long range shot, Alex Zhong (12) and Akash retaliated with two goals in quick succession to end the game with a score of 21-5.

Alex reflected on how the game provided opportunities for every player to gain in-game experience.

“Because this game was against a less strong team, there were a lot of opportunities for usual bench players like myself to shine in the pool,” Alex said. “I scored my first two goals this season during this game.”

Varsity boys water polo currently holds a record of 11-5 and faces Mountain View next in a home game on Oct. 22.