Clairemont 7 – Francis Parker 4

The Chieftains seized their biggest win of the season Thursday night as they took down league rival Francis Parker 7-4 in Clairemont’s most complete game of the season.  Great execution on both sides of the pool lead to the massive victory that keeps the Chiefs playoff hopes alive!

Clairemont got off to a great start in the first quarter, fending off the opening Lancer possession with a well executed crash.  The Chiefs countered hard off the turnover and Junior Preston Coleman earned a power play on Clairemont’s first possession. The boys moved the ball well and eventually found senior Aaron Yamada for a monster shot to put them up 1-0!  Another well executed defensive possession turned over the Lancers again and sprung Clairemont on the counter once more.  The Chiefs probed until senior Kyse Moosa broke through the Francis Parker ranks and buried a pass from sophomore Graham West!  2-0 Clairemont!  Time out Parker.

After the great start, it was the Lancers who responded off the time out with back to back scores to knot the game up late in the first quarter.  Into the final minute of the quarter and the Chiefs were once again on a power play.  After working the ball around, the Chiefs passed to Moosa who pulled all the defense in with a great pump fake then delivered a pass to Coleman on the post who put it away!

Parker turned the tables early in the 2nd quarter as they scored quickly to tie the game at 3-3 once again.  Both defenses tightened up after this as neither team ceded a goal for the next 4 minutes.  But another power play for Clairemont allowed the Chieftains to work the Lancer man down defense, and Yamada once again found an open Coleman on the post to put them back up front 4-3.  Parker had a chance to tie late as their best player had a quality look on cage but senior Joseph Comalli swatted the attempt away!

Second half started much like the second quarter as Francis Parker scored first early on to tie the game once again at 4-4.  After multiple back and forth possessions, sophomore Shawn Spears got in behind the Lancer defense with the ball!  Moving in towards the goal with shouts of “let him shoot” from the Francis Parker bench, Spears got the keeper off-balanced with a couple strong fakes then buried a shot over his head to put Clairemont back up.  Next Chieftain possession Coleman made an outstanding play to earn a penalty shot which Kyse Moosa scored to go up 2.  And as the quarter ticked down to the final seconds, Graham West hit the shot of the season with an absolute rocket from near half-tank that hit perfect corner at the buzzer.  7-4 Clairemont!

Both teams buckled down in the 4th quarter defensively as neither team scored again.  Freshmen keeper Derek Pryor came up with stop after stop to preserve his team’s 3 goal lead.  And while Clairemont was unable to extend their lead in the 4th, they never turned it over and used close to 30 seconds on each possession to bleed down the game clock.  As the final buzzer sounded you could feel what this win meant to this young team.  A critical must win game that keeps the season alive.

UP NEXT

Clairemont Varsity Boys Water Polo improves to 12-14 on the season and 1-4 in Eastern League play.  Up next, the boys have their most meaningful match of the season as they face #17 Mission Bay on Wednesday at 5pm at Mesa College for the 13th annual Flood the Tub!  Clairemont must win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Game is at Mesa College at 5pm, Wednesday October 29^th.  First 200 fans at the game receive a commemorative 13^th annual Flood the Tub T-Shirt!

COME OUT AND SUPPORT YOUR CHIEFTAINS!!!!