Edison pounces on Pirates in playoff opener

REEDLEY – As Reedley boys water polo felt ready to begin the Division II Central Section Championships, their opponent, the Edison Tigers, had a craving for an upset. 

The No.11 seed Tigers slashed the No.6 seed Pirates playoff hopes by clawing out an upset 6-4 victory in the opening round of the 2024 Boys Water Polo Central Section Championships (Div.II) at the Reedley Aquatics Complex on Nov. 6.  

During the regular season, Reedley had their difficulties taming the Tigers. The Pirates went 1-2 against Edison,with all three games decided by three points or less. 

Reedley head coach Kyle Bunch admitted that his team’s previous struggles with Edison caused some big concerns coming into their playoff match.  

“Edison is a very tough team, we’ve already played them three times this year,” said Bunch. “They had our number in one goal games twice, and we beat them once. Unfortunately, today, we just couldn’t score.” 

The Pirates wanted to attack Edison with tough man-to-man defense and aggressive offense. But the Tigers put down Reedley’s strategy with a ferocious game plan that closed the holes near the rack and limited their shot opportunities. 

And In this game, missed opportunities became the theme for Reedley.

In the first quarter, Edison jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. The Pirates countered when Ryan Lopez’s goal on the power play made the score 2-1. But then, Edison scored again when Ezra Betancourt muscled through the defense to score in front of the rack to make the score 3-1. 

In the second quarter, Elias Garcia’s impressive goal on a skip trimmed Edison’s lead to 3-2. Once again, Reedley got close. But three missed shot opportunities by Lopez left the Pirates slapping the water in frustration. 

“I can think of three shots that we missed from about two meters away, and those are the ones that have to go in,” said Bunch. “When you miss those against a team that knows you well, those are going to come back and bite you.” 

In the third quarter, Reedley failed to score with multiple power plays and second shot opportunities. And when the Pirates got close again, Edison’s Alastair Jones’s graceful behind the back goal made the score 4-2. 

In the fourth quarter, the Pirates continued to get closer. Rad Friend-Gutierrez’s goal off a turnover made the score 4-3. But Luke Bryan’s shot over the cage with 3:15 left felt deflating. 

“We tried to mix things up a little bit, give them a different look,” said Bunch. “And for the most part, we were able to get the ball and get some decent shots off, but the shots we had weren’t falling.” 

The Tigers finished their upset feast of the Pirates when Mason Pitcher’s goal on the 5 meter made the score 5-3. Reedley’s Lopez scored again with 1:13 left to go. But with less than a minute left, Chuma Ntukogu’s goal officially sunk the Pirates’ hopes of a comeback. 

Despite a hard-fought end to their playoff hopes, Bunch couldn’t be prouder of his young team’s effort. 

“I couldn’t be more proud of them, as young as we are, to compete with a lot of the teams we played this year,” said Bunch. “It bodes well for the future.”