Sweet Home’s boys lost to Marist by a goal at home in their first match of the season less than a month ago.
Monday, on Marist’s home turf in Amazon Pool in Eugene, the Huskies braved “less than ideal conditions,” as Coach Craig Martin put it, to turn the tables on the Spartans 11-6.
“Our guys stepped it up,” Martin said.
The difference this time was that Sweet Home was able to effectively corral Marist’s leading player, Marshall Balderstan, who scored the game-winner on them last time.
“We were able to effectively counter their one really good player,” Martin said.
The hosts led 3-1 after a quarter, but Sweet Home tied the score at 5-5 by the second buzzer. In the third period the Huskies went up 8-6 and then shut down Marist’s offense completely in the fourth quarter to win going away.
Gabe Gunselman and Cory Martin led Sweet Home with five goals each and Derek Jaquis added one more.
Martin said he now has eight girls so the Huskies will be able to put a girls squad back in the water soon. He said he is trying to schedule games with other girls teams in the area.
The Husky boys will play South Albany at home Thursday, Oct. 1, at 5 p.m.
Corvallis 6, Sweet Home 5
Sweet Home’s water polo squad showed it’s come a long way in a year Thursday,Sept. 24, losing 6-5 at Corvallis.
“It was the best game of my coaching career,” said Coach Craig Martin.
Facing a combined team of Corvallis and Crescent Valley players, the Huskies hung tight despite the hosts’ jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter. Sweet Home used its swimming ability to play “tenacious defense,” Martin said, and trailed 3-1 at the end of the period, then 3-2 at the second-quarter buzzer.
Corvallis made a run in the third quarter, leading 5-3 at the end, but Sweet Home fought back on the offensive end and tied the score at 5-5 with two minutes left.
With the clock showing 1:40, Corvallis managed a quick shot on a broken play that dribbled by Husky goalkeeper Brandon Courteau, who was playing in deep water, for a score.
Sweet Home had a couple of opportunities as the game wound down, but the Huskies had one shot go high and another wide as they fought to get a tying score while holding Corvallis’ offense down.
A desperate shot with three seconds left just missed, Martin said.
“The kids were excited,” he said. “They know they are playing good, fundamental water polo. They’re looking good.”
Sweet Home got two goals feach from Gabe Gunselman and Niccole Simmonds, and one from Cory Martin.