Corona del Mar High School boys’ water polo had their Battle of the Bay Game on Friday, September 23, and despite their loss, it was an overall fairly successful game. The varsity game ended with a final score of 14 to 9.

Mich Nickin, a junior who plays water polo at CDM feels that despite a difficult second quarter, in which many faults occurred, the varsity team performed decently. Newport Harbor High School is currently ranked within the top three of the CIF Southern Division 1. Nickin feels that given the fact that “They’ve beaten other teams by huge margins, a five-goal loss against a top team isn’t a tremendous amount of goals.” When reflecting upon the result of the game he still feels that the game was “ …definitely better than expected and we overall played really well and had them scared a couple of quarters and ultimately had just one bad quarter…” in conclusion to the energy they put in. Players on the water polo team echoed Nickin’s sentiments, feeling proud of the effort they put in.

Aside from a discouraging second quarter, the Sea Kings refused to give up despite the tribulations faced this past Friday. Coach Kareem Captan shared that even though the team struggled in the second quarter they “did end up winning the second half, which just shows that as a team when we put things together we are very good.” Captan continued to congratulate the team on their overall performance so far this season, commemorating the team’s other wins. They prevailed the sailors during the second half offering an all-around team effort and competitive display of skill with five saves from Junior Chase Campbell, three assists from Junior Charles Warmington, two goals from Junior Luke Zimmerman, an additional goal from Senior Nate Evans, and a tie of the most goals scored between Sophomore Jackson Harlan and Junior Cameron Simoncelli, both having put three in the back of the net. With improvements coming every week, fans of water polo should get excited for a great season ahead for the team.