Second-half surge lifts Lancer boys' water polo team over NPHS

NOWHERE TO GO-Newbury Park's Doug Herrera, white cap, gets sunk by, from left, Thousand Oaks' Ryan Vick, Nathan Neil, Brendan Donohue and Elliot Weideman during Tuesday's match. Sean Pearson and Daniel Smith each scored four goals as the Thousand Oaks boys' water polo team defeated rival Newbury Park 15-6 Tuesday afternoon at TOHS.

With the win, the Lancers improved their record to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in Marmonte League play. Newbury Park dropped to 74 and 2-1 in league.

"It was amazing because going into it we knew (NPHS) was going to be the toughest team we've pretty much played, except for Oaks Christian," said Thousand Oaks senior Ryan Vick, who scored three goals. "It was a lot of fun."

After a sluggish start by both teams, Newbury Park got on the board first when Michael DeLyon found the back of the Lancers' cage with 3:14 remaining in the first quarter.

Shortly thereafter, Pearson and Smith answered with consecutive goals for Thousand Oaks to give the Lancers a 2-1 lead.

Newbury Park's Scott Abernethy tied the match at two with 38 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, but Pearson scored 12 seconds later to give TOHS a 32 advantage as the period ended.

Early in the second quarter, Newbury Park's Derek Savoie scored to tie the match at three.

Thousand Oaks got goals from Pearson and Elliot Weideman to take a 5-3 lead. Savoie then added his second goal to make it 5-4 in favor of Thousand Oaks.

At the 3:38 mark of the second quarter, Smith put the Lancers on top 6-4 with his second goal of the afternoon. Vick made it 7-4 Lancers just before halftime.

The second half was all Thousand Oaks.

Vick scored twice in the third quarter and Smith and Weideman both had goals as TOHS pushed its lead to 11-6 after 21 minutes of action. DeLyon managed two goals in

the third, but after he scored with 1:40 remaining in the quarter, Newbury Park wouldn't again find pay dirt, as the Lancer defense and goalkeeper Nathan Neil took control of the match.

"We decided to work as a team," said Neil, who finished with 12 saves.

"I had to get mentally focused and get my reaction time up," he said. "It usually takes a quarter or so to get going, but each game is different."

In the fourth period, Weideman, Smith, Pearson and Brendan Donohue all scored as Thousand Oaks ran away with the match.

Newbury Park third-year head coach Casey Graham said his team failed to make the most of its scoring chances in the second half.

"Both teams came out slow and missed so many opportunities," Graham said. "Then one team started capitalizing on their offensive opportunities and playing a little defense and one team didn't."

Graham said he'd like to see his team play more consistent as the season progresses.

"We're unpredictable," he said. "It's hard to tell what we're going to do. Some days we come out and play well enough to beat a team like Royal High School. Some days we come out and get beat by a lesser team like San Luis Obispo. What can I say? It's high school sports. We can do it, but we've got to do it every time. Sometimes that's tough."

Yesterday afternoon Thousand Oaks played at Royal while Newbury Park was on the road to take on Calabasas. Scores weren't available at press time.