by ZACH SENN
Staff Writer
Boys water polo has had a very decorated season with many great wins and many goals that were achieved. But they aren’t done just yet with their recent advancement into the Valley Championship game versus Atascadero! There were defining moments in every game for every player and some games really showed the capabilities of this very talented team. Their journey began with a win in their first pre-seasonal match against Strathmore by a score of 19-6 and they didn’t look back from there. Eventually, they would go on a 12 game winning streak starting with a very intense matchup against San Joaquin Memorial which went into triple overtime and El D coming out on top with a score of 14-13! Within that 12 game streak, El D had the biggest upset in WYL, defeating the favored Redwood Rangers by a score of 11-9 which ended an 11-year losing drought for the Miners rivalry against the Rangers. At the end of the regular season, El D finished second overall in WYL standings. Although they didn’t end their regular season the way they wanted, they put their losses behind them and focused all their efforts towards playoffs.
El Diamante was the first seed that granted them a first-round bye and automatically advanced them to the quarterfinals. There they faced off against Morro Bay (9th seed) and won 13-9. With this win, El D was taken to the semifinals where they played against Porterville (4th seed). They handily beat them by a score of 12-6 with incredible defense and a perfectly executed game plan from El D. Now trying to seal off a win versus Atascadero (3rd seed) to be crowned Division II Champions since their last championship run in 2007 and their most recent visit to the Division II Championship game last year where they lost to Garces Memorial, the boys are ready to redeem themselves and give it their all in the most important game of the season. Show your support on Saturday, November 16th at 1:00 at El Diamante for the Division II Valley Championship game!