On Tuesday, Jesuit High School challenged the Rio Americano High School in one of the closest games of this water polo season. However, the team’s hopes of winning were dashed in a suspenseful 8-7 loss. 

The Marauders are no strangers to close games. This was the second game in a row in which the team has lost by only one point.

During the game, the momentum shifted back and forth between the Marauders and the Raiders. At no point did either team have a substantial lead, and it seemed evenly matched, but in the end, Rio came out on top. Jesuit Head Coach Zac Koerner believes his team only has a little bit of work to be done before they can win their next match. 

“There’s a lot of little details we need to clean up,” Coach Koerner said. “It’s good to see we’re close between this game and last game against Granite Bay [High School], but there are some little details we have to execute better if we want to win those games.”

Rio took an early lead of two points, but it wasn’t long before Jesuit caught up to them, leaving the first quarter with an even two points under their belt. Even by halftime, Rio had only a single goal over Jesuit with a score of 5-4. 

Rio played a brilliant game, blocking numerous shots taken at their goal. With the Raiders able to score nearly every shot, they were one tough fight, but thanks to Jesuit’s nearly impenetrable defense, opportunities for goals were scarce. Lucas Fishman ’20 noticed his team’s defensive improvement as well. 

“We executed all the things that we really worked hard on in practice, especially on our defensive end,” Lucas said. 

By the end of the third quarter, the outlook was optimistic with a 7-6 lead for Jesuit, but Rio stepped up in the last quarter. They pierced through Jesuit’s defense to score the final two points they needed to win, leaving Jesuit defeated with a final score of 8-7.  

With the result being so close, Jackson Wacker ’20 believes that with a little more work, his team will be on the cusp of victory.

“The biggest factor in our defeat was just little bits and mistakes,” Jackson said. “We’ve been working hard in practice, but we still got a bit of work to do. We let our guard down a couple of times, and they were just able to capitalize off of that.”

Despite the close defeat, the water polo team isn’t letting their defeat drag them down. With victory tantalizingly close for the Marauders, the team is looking to find a win in their upcoming tournament down in Los Angeles this coming weekend.