After winning their first game of the season against Saint Patrick Saint Vincent, the DVHS Men’s Water Polo team suffered a devastating loss against Deer Valley on Sept. 15, losing 17-5.

Around mid-game, junior Arrsani Ebeid maneuvered a goal, winning the Wildcats’ first point.

Junior Jeongwoo Heo aided the team, scoring a goal after Ebeid’s third shot, allowing the Wildcats to score a total of five points. However, the efforts of the two were in vain as Deer Valley ultimately crushed hopes of victory of 17 shots.

The game started slow, with a few missed goals by Deer Valley’s players. Sophomore Wildcat goalie Tristan Tucker substituted after a few minutes in, but ultimately could not defend against Deer Valley’s plays. Despite Coach Couch and Coach Theide’s efforts to rally up the spirit of the team, the Wildcats suffered from fatigue and exhaustion.

Despite their loss, Couch remains hopeful, saying,“[The team] gave it their 100 percent today; I’m proud of my players and the program is coming along great.”

While expecting a comeback in their second home game, the team destroyed the hope of victory on Sept. 20 after losing to Granada, 4-11.

The Wildcats came out strong with junior Willy Fan scoring the first goal of the day. But, by the time Fan scored, Granada had already won three goals. However, this didn’t stop Tucker and sophomore Abhi Banerjee from blocking nearly half of Granada’s attempts at scoring. Tucker defended the Wildcats’ goal, blocking four shots from the opposing team. Soon after, Tucker was substituted by Banerjee, who let three balls pass his defense but blocked six.

Keeping goals out of their post, the Wildcats also stole a number of times from Grenada, which assisted them in scoring. Soon after Fan’s goal was that of Ebeid, who scored despite Granada players double teaming him. Ebeid’s other goals were in vain as they were shot after referees called penalty.

Both sophomore Rishi Mistry and Eric Chang scored DVHS’ last goals of the game, leading to a total score of four. Senior Anant Kumar and junior Colin Hsiao intercepted some of Granada’s passes, stalling their eventual victory.

However, despite their efforts, the Wildcats fell from victory near the end of the game. Some factors may have contributed, such as injuries among players and the Wildcats being outnumbered. Senior Vikas Ravi was injured mid-game but was able to carry the ball across to the other team’s goal, barely making a shot.

Couch reflected on the game, saying, “I’m proud of my guys. They worked real hard and got a lot of shots on goal; they really pulled through.”