By Ed Piper
The La Jolla water polo team couldn't solve Cathedral Catholic this time.
After splitting Western League matches with Bishop's, the Vikings' long-time nemesis, and with Cathedral, the Vikings couldn't hold on to a 3-1 lead early in the third quarter in the CIF Open semifinals Tuesday night, Nov. 7.
Senior Dustin Drobeck pegged two goals into the cage, but Coach Tom Atwell's crew were outscored 7-3 in the second half at Coggan Pool, resulting in an 8-5 final.
What began as a confident, hopeful season way back on August 14 at the Bishop's pool (Coggan under renovation) with tryouts, then grueling 5 a.m. weekday practices (some days), came to a close Tuesday with the La Jolla pressuring defense still doubling up against key individual opponents.
The seven seniors in the rotation--led by returning All-CIF and high-scoring West Gartland--worked hard away from home, motivated by the drive for a CIF Open title. The team didn't settle into its Coggan Complex quarters until the Monday of the final week of the regular season, October 23.
It would have been a nice dedication of the freshened-up facility to put up a CIF banner, but the Dons powered away in the middle in the closing quarters. Axline Braylen scored goals to tie at 3-3 in the second period and to go up 6-4 in the fourth around teammate Jett Taylor's back-to-back goals in the last minute of the third quarter and first minute of the fourth.
Viking senior Weston Bancroft's penalty shot tightened the count to 6-5 with 2:52 left in the game, but the hosts seemed out of gas as play resumed after a timeout and the Dons scored behind Max Arnold at 1:57, then again at 1:13 (Braylen again) to close out the scoring.
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