Pali Boys Varsity Water Polo Team won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) LA City Section Division I Championship on Wednesday, Nov. 11, where they defeated Granada Hills Charter High School, 8-7.
Due to the aftermath of the Palisades Fire, the team lost their previous practice location: the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center located on Pali’s campus. Having to adjust to the loss of a practice space, the team met at the Santa Monica High School pool at 5:45 a.m., instead of their usual 6:30 a.m. practice time.
Head Coach Theo Trask noted that winning the CIF championships was an accomplishment because the team lost many players, which resulted in an underdeveloped, young team compared to other years.
“We lost three starters from last year who transferred,” Trask said. “So [we were] depending on a team full of sophomores, and even some freshmen who have never played that many varsity minutes up until this year.”
Trask explained how before the CIF Championship game, he reminded the team that confidence and team morale would be the key to their victory.
“Accept that you are nervous,” Trask said. “But then you need that confidence in yourself that you can overcome it, and you can play as well as we know you can.”
According to Trask, another challenge the team faced was that this was their first year competing in Division I as opposed to the Open Division. This posed a challenge for the team as when they competed in the Open Division, they often faced more difficult teams, while competing in Division I is typically less challenging.
“We didn’t get seated for the Open Division championship because they didn’t think we were going to be that good,” Trask said.
Junior Hudson Mirzadeh, a perimeter defender, recalled the strong start the team had in the CIF Championship game.
“We won the sprint, my teammate Oliver Ghiassi gave me an assist, we secured a lead and stuck to it,” Mirzadeh said.
Even though the game was neck-in-neck in the end, Mirzadeh believed the team won due to their seamless teamwork visible from all sides of the pool.
“Everyone was doing their job,” Mirzadeh said. “The goalies were doing very well, we had great defense and were scoring a lot of goals. With all of us doing our part and working together, we were able to win.”
According to team captain and junior Oliver Ghiassi, Pali gained a steady lead against Granada in the first half, but the game became closer in the second half, with the Dolphins’ title at stake.
“Granada scored a couple quick goals off some defensive mistakes but [Pali was] able to bounce back and [the] defense was able to hold them for the rest of the game,” Ghiassi said.
In the fourth quarter, junior goalkeeper Aidan Moriarty performed four back-to-back saves and a penalty shot block which was pivotal to Pali’s victory.
However on Nov. 18, the team lost to Charter Oak High School in the CIF Southern California Division III Boys Water Polo Championship, 20-11.
Despite losing, Ghiassi said he believes that the team had a successful season and has hope for the future of the Pali Boys Water Polo program.
“Even though we didn’t win the state championship, we are on the road to getting our winning streak back.”
