![“For me personally, I want [others] to see the music program as a strong union because we can really bring out the life of our school,” Vega said. “We need music, you know? Otherwise, things would be really silent and dead.”](https://theburlingameb.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/unnamed-1200x801.jpeg)
Varsity boy’s water polo (2-0 Peninsula Athletic League Bay) played its second conference match on Wednesday, Sept. 11, beating Aragon High School 11-5. Burlingame immediately took control of the contest with a 5-1 lead in the first quarter, and didn’t lose momentum for the rest of the game. A sequence of swift power plays established Burlingame’s dominant offense, while the defense remained solid and was able to shut down most of Aragon’s attacks. In the fourth quarter, senior goalie Bobby Kendall was able to play field while Adrian Gong, a strong attacking player, took on the defensive duties.
The team demonstrated strong coordination with their passing, often clearing the reach of defenders and protecting possession of the ball. That said, players noted that they want to work on reducing the number of successful ‘counters,’ or plays that allow the opposition to gain control of the ball while on defense.
“We’ve started to focus on not getting countered. We’ve started watching our games — watching them back — and that was the main thing we noticed,” Kendall said.
The team attributed some of their success to the strategy of new coach Brett Reynolds, who has brought some of his college water polo experience into his coaching approach. Reynolds has the team watch the game tape and centers practices around their observations. In addition to analyzing game footage, he mentioned a system that would quantify each player’s contributions as a way of gauging teamwork and improving overall cohesion.
Aside from fundamentals like speed and stamina, the team wants to work on their own counters to strengthen offense and continue their fiery — well, watery — streak. The team is confident going into their next league game against Sequoia on Tuesday, Sept. 17, but sophomore Lucas Carlson emphasizes the importance of a solid mindset in addition to good technique.
“[We want to] get better at counters, get faster, and [improve] overall team mentality. We need to get into the mindset to really win, really work together, and make great plays,” said Carlson.
The Panthers will also spend the weekend playing in the Steve Martin Memorial Tournament at Soquel High School to see where the team stacks up against tough competition.
