Sonoma’s ‘Water Dragons’ upset Novato, 13-10

Last week the Sonoma Valley water polo team scored an upset victory over Novato, and stay competitive in this week’s matches.|

The evolving water polo program at Sonoma Valley High is making progress at all levels, according to coach Russ Jaycox – despite the lack of a pool at the school. They play their “home” matches at the Agua Caliente Aquatic Center where both local and visiting crowds are friendly and animated, relaxed as only pool-side spectators can be.

Last week was a high-water mark for the varsity boys, who scored what Jaycox called “a huge win” against Novato of the Marin County Athletic League (where SVHS is placed since there is no SCL water polo), with a final score of 13-10.

“Novato is a strong team and many consider them in the top 5 in MCAL,” said Jaycox. “For the boys to get 13 goals on the 2015 All-League honorable mention goalie, Luc Holloway, shows that our shots were on the money.”

Dragon swimmer Owen Summers “lit the pool on fire” with 9 goals, while Andrew McGrath added 2 and Dominic Tomassi and Chris Brunton 1 each.

The JV boys didn’t win but the final score was a respectable 15-6. The game was 11-2 at the half, which means the JV team tied Novato in the second half at four each. “Too bad games aren’t 5 quarters, it would have been closer,” said Jaycox. Leading the scoring was Dominic Fiorito with 4 and Hank Schoeningh adding the other 2.

That same day the varsity girls played well and managed to meet the Novato score halfway with a 14-7 final. It was 6-4 at the half but the Novato goals came on fast breaks and the less-experienced Sonoma team had a hard time keeping pace. “I’m proud of the girls, they fought a hard one tonight,” said the coach. Leading the local scoring was Abby Parr with 4 and Grace Turner with 2.

In this week’s matchup against Tamalpais High, none of the local teams won. But, as Jaycox notes, Tam is also an MCAL contender and has many experienced players. Getting on the board and putting up a strong showing counts as a step forward in the evolution of the Dragon water polo season.

The afternoon’s first game matched the varsity boys teams, and Tam scored almost at will to win 23-8. But even in the shootout, eight points from the “Water Dragons” kept their spirits up. Top scorers were Dominic Tommasi with 4, followed by Owen Summers with three and Chris Brunton with one. Goalie Greg Kenton had 16 blocks, and stayed under fire the whole game.

The JV match was even more lopsided, though Jaycox noted that half of the Tamalpais squad could be subs on varsity. They took advantage of their strength and experience to win 26-2, with Dominc Fiorito scoring both Dragon goals.

The varsity girls put up a much stronger fight, staying competitive through three quarters and seeming to find their rhythm as the game progressed. But it fell apart in the fourth quarter due to some miscues and the visitors racked up a misleading number of goals. Final score was 8-3, with Ayssa Schimm, Erica McIntosh and Sophia Portello scoring a goal each.

“I am happy with their progress so far,” said Jaycox of the girls performance. Jaycox, a former assistant coach at SVHS in years past, is assisted this year by co-coach M.T. Robertson, a former college player at USC, as well as Codie Cox and Owen Hardisty. The coaches were recruited by the SVHS athletic department just days before the season began, so they have to be pleased with their teams’ progress so far.

Last night, Thursday, the varsity boys and girls met San Rafael at Agua Caliente; with scores not available at press time. Tuesday, Sept. 27, finds the varsity teams meeting against Marin Catholic at home, game times 5 p.m. for the boys and 6 p.m. for the girls.

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