With only a few weeks left in the regular season, men’s water polo is ranked second in Western State Conference.
Team captain and sophomore utility, Johnathan Wong said that with regular season almost over, practices are getting harder.
“Practice is a lot more intense now that we know what’s on the line,” Wong said.
Wong has helped the Owls offensively with 92 goals and 41 assists this season.
Wong’s teammate, sophomore utility Ian Schubert said the team is much stronger and has more depth than last year.
“We have a lot of guys who have skill and exposure to the sport,” Schubert said.
“This year we guys who come off the bench, which we didn’t have last year.”
The Owls have only lost four games this season which Schubert said he dedicates the team’s success to their improved skill level and speed.
“We’ve gotten a lot faster since the beginning of the season. I think at the beginning of the season we were all playing different positions but now we’re honing in with what each of us is good at,” Schubert said.
Although the team has made great progress from last year, Wong said the team needs to slow down when they are on offense.
“We need to take our time and be patient with ball movement,” Wong said. “We’re very quick to throw the possession away.”
Assistant coach James Adams, who played for Citrus water polo the last two seasons said the team needs to focus on adapting to other teams style of play.
“Some skills the team needs to work on is adjusting,” Adams said. “They should be communicating to shut down a team’s offense. Whether it’s pressing outside to shut down outside shooting, or helping back to stop a center.”
Regardless of skill or technical aspects of the game, Adams said there’s one major aspect every team can improve on.
“Ultimately, there is always room to come closer as a team,” Adams said.
When trying to become closer as a team, Adams said that team bonding is not enough to bring a team together.
“Obviously team bonding, but at some point that’s not enough,” Adams said. “I feel like playing a large number of high-intensity games can bring a team together like nothing else. They still have conference and hopefully, state. They should be getting closer and getting to know one another as athletes better every step of the way.”
The next few games will prove how close the men’s water polo team can come together. As October comes to an end, November will be the ultimate test for the Owls to show WSC what talent they have.
