Pali High Water Polo Wins Again

So far, the boys water polo team has tripled the expectations of —and it's showing no signs of stopping.

Blakis stated before the season that he would've been happy if his first-year team merely won a match. On Monday, the Dolphins beat Van Nuys 19-11 at Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center for their third victory in as many games.

The eight-goal differential would suggest an easy win for Palisades, but the score was deceiving. The visiting Wolves led 6-1 after the first period and only after Blakis made a defensive adjustment did the Dolphins start to take control.

"I thought we were on our way to losing, but it was evident they had one player doing all of their scoring, so we changed our defense and put two guys on him."

Luka Kosanin opened the scoring for Palisades 1:10 into the contest, but Van Nuys responded with six unanswered goals—five by senior driver and captain Robert Ginoti. Anton Pronichenko scored with eight seconds left in the first period to cut the Dolphins' deficit to 6-2.

Danny Hernandez scored for Palisades with 5:33 left in the second period but Ginoti responded to give Van Nuys a 7-3 lead. Kosanin and Gabriel Connolly each scored late to pull the Dolphins within 7-5 at halftime.

Palisades took command in the second half, as Hernandez opened the third period with two quick goals and Tristan Marsh gave the Dolphins an 8-7 lead. Van Nuys tied it 8-8, but Pronichenko scored twice in a 15-minute span to give Palisades the lead for good.

Ginoti finished with nine goals for the Wolves, but it wasn't enough.

"By the end you could tell they were exhausted," Blakis said. "We just outswam them."

Jake Venckus and Ben Kent again alternated in goal, with Venckus playing the first and third periods and Kent the second and fourth periods.

Palisades defeated Los Angeles 15-12 last Friday and Blakis said that given the fast start the Dolphins should be able to make the playoffs.

"I'm happy with how we're doing," Blakis said. "There are some real strong teams out there that we haven't played, but so far we've been able to outspeed team and outlast our opponents, which is a always a good sign."

Palisades will participate in the Westside Classic Friday and Saturday. The Dolphins will host Western League rival Venice in the first game Friday at 2:45 p.m., then will play Brentwood at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame's JV team at 3 p.m. Saturday, both at Brentwood School.

"The tournament games won't count towards league or anything, but they'll give us a chance to play stronger teams," Blakis said. "So we'll see how we stack up."

The Dolphins open Western League play on Monday at Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies.

Score by Periods

1

2

3

4

Final

Taft

6

1

2

2

Palisades

2

3

7

7

Goals: Van Nuys -- Ginoti 9, Reyes, Chin 2. Palisades -- Kosanin 3, Hernandez 3, Pronichenko 3, Siegel 4, Connolly 2, Marsh 2, Koffman, Elias.

Records: Van Nuys 0-1; Palisades 3-0.