Pali High Boys Water Polo Wins Sixth Straight City Title
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Up by one goal in the waning seconds, Palisades High’s boys water polo team needed a big play to keep its dynasty alive. Maximo Speiser made it, stealing the ball with 20 ticks left to preserve a 6-5 triumph over Granada Hills in the City Section championship game last Thursday night at Valley College.
“They were running an iso, trying to get their best player the ball for a foul-and-shoot,” Speiser said. “I knew the guy I was guarding wasn’t going to do anything so I left my guy, reached across and stole it.”
Fittingly, the Dolphins needed six goals to clinch their sixth consecutive City title and Speiser collaborated with his older brother Sammy on the game-winner with 5:26 remaining.
“The night before Sam and I watched the Cal-Santa Barbara game and a nice play they ran was off a six-on-five, so when that situation came up I gave him a look, he gave me a look back and we went for it. My brother’s going off to college next year so I’m glad I had this chance to play with him.”
The two had combined to net the team’s first goal of the season in August, only this one was reversed as Sammy lofted a pass to Maximo, who one-timed it into the cage to give the Dolphins a seemingly safe 6-3 lead.
“When I saw this play on my laptop I walked into my brother’s room, showed him and said ‘Maybe this could work.’” Sammy said. “On that six-on-five, I dumped it into Max and he did the rest. Winning City means everything to me. We came here thinking we’d roll through this, but to their credit they kept coming back.”
Late goals by Roman Carnevale and Erik Sarkissian pulled the Highlanders within one, but they were stymied late by senior goalie Michail Melnik, who made six saves and Theo Trask who had six—yes, six—steals.
“I got distracted a few times, but I wanted everyone to just stay calm,” Melnik said. “There was a lot of pressure but I credit my defense for doing a great job in front of me. I’ve been to a lot of camps, I’ve played club and all the hard work I’ve put in and the entire team has put was worth it!”
Palisades advances to the first Southern California Regional Division I tournament and plays Mater Dei in the first round Friday at 4 p.m. at Newport Harbor, but that is merely icing on the cake.
Both teams squandered several quality scoring chances early, but Oliver Grant broke the ice on a five-meter shot at the 5:45 mark of the second quarter. Goals by Zach Wunder, Zeke Ramirez and Grant made it 4-1 at halftime.
“This is our youngest, most inexperienced team since the first one,” said Pali High Coach Adam Blakis, dripping from head to toe after taking the customary plunge with his players after the medal ceremony. “Granada Hills had a good strategy but our kids overcame their nerves. Matt [Garcia] was a sparkplug and changed the dynamic every time he was in.”
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