LJ b water polo 20, Bishop's 14 - 10/15

Vikings' Quinn Daniels (left, 3) defends

J.T. Moss (2) of Bishop's late in the

second quarter, La Jolla leading

by three.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

The Vikings' two lefties--6'6" Dexter Black and 5'10" Henry Glenister--led the way in scoring as La Jolla flattened Bishop's, 20-14, in the second round of Western League play Wed., Oct. 15, at Bishop's.

Goalkeeper George Gayner effectively blocked the majority of shots by the Knights, who seemed to be shooting from distance and out of rhythm in their offense the first three quarters, when the game was in the balance.

La Jolla built a two-point lead near the end of the first quarter before a big crowd from both schools, and maintained it through the rest of the first half.

After the Vikings won the sprint again to start the third period, Glenister scored on a soft toss, then again after La Jolla worked the ball around in the offense, to lead 13-9. After Knight senior J.T. Moss missed a penalty shot, Black scored to establish the visitors' first five-goal lead, and the rout was on.

Sophomore Quinn Daniels added to the two big stars' scoring. For the big duo, Henry netted six goals when the game was in question, Dexter three.

Coach Tom Atwell's defense wore the Knights down. After La Jolla's Nate Thomson won the sprint to start the fourth quarter, Bishop's didn't seem to have any gas left in the tank, falling from trailing 15-10 to the final margin of six.

After Bishop's coach Ian Davidson sent his subs in with 1:47 left, Atwell employed an entire platoon of reserves the remaining minute.

The separation between the two teams increased with this latest win. On Sept. 24, when they first faced off, La Jolla, playing at home, won by one goal in overtime.

This time, with the six-goal margin, the Vikings (3-1 in league, 18-3 overall) would appear to have widened their ranking edge after winning both direct encounters. Cathedral, La Jolla's final Western League opponent coming Oct. 30, is the final hurdle before postseason playoffs.

The separation among the three elite teams remains close: Cathedral edged the Vikings, 10-9, last week; the Dons only beat the Knights, 12-10, Oct. 7.