Aloha all,
Well, we're back. Very tired and very worn out, but much more experienced than when we left last week and that's what we wanted.
We finished the tournament with 3 wins and 2 losses, and I was told in 19th place out of 32 teams. Apparently, this is the most prestigious tournament in Southern California, so not bad for a bunch of pineapples.
All games were close, but we just didn't seem to get our mojo working to 100%. The boys kept complaining of feeling sluggish and tired. Not sure if it was the travel, schedule, smog, excitement, or ?, but we definitely didn't seem the same as our first two games back here in the islands. Obviously, the competition was greater, so that had something to do with it, but even our Porsches looked like soccer mom vans in some games.
We opened with a 5 - 6 loss in OT. That win would've put us in the winners' bracket and assured of at least a top 16 finish. We had three cracks at the win in OT, but couldn't find the back of the net. Huntington Beach had one crack and found the back of the net.
Game 2 was against Santa Margarita from Mission Viejo and that evened up our win-loss record with a 7 - 3 victory. Vincent Lim led the way with 3 goals. Record: 1 - 1
Game 3 was against Mission Viejo, historically a solid program. We did everything right, except put the ball in the cage. There was some referee calls that we didn't adjust to, actually no calls by the refs, and that got some of the boys frustrated, but the bottom line is we came out with a 2 - 7 loss. Chris "Honu" Nichols had a nice foul and shot combo outside the 5M line for the few highlights of the game. Record: 1 - 2
Game 4 was against Rancho Buena Vista. Sounds like a retirement community, but the team gave us a challenge. We jumped on them early only to let them back in and eventually get the lead. We managed to tie the game late and Chase Weber banged home the game winner with 1:26 to play. Austin Strong's strong defensive play helped seal the win. Record: 2 - 2
Game 5 was late in the day and at the end of the trip, so the challenge was to focus and get a win to push our tournament record above .500. We played Northwood High, a team we scrimmaged in our July trip. Very well-coached team with a lot of experience. Again, we went up big, 4 - 1, only to let them back in the game. Again, we found ourselves down late in the game. We managed to tie the game and go up by 2 to win comfortably. Andy Atkinson had a ton of goals and drawn kick outs to lead the way. David Lim and Conner Grune had a nice inside post play to start things off. That seemed to get the boys jacked up. Record: 3 - 2
I'd like to thank our supporters and rooters. There was grandpa Nichols, grandma Butters, uncle Phil, papa Jay, papa Victor, and mama Debby. We were also blessed with former Iolani players Daniel and Stephen Lim, currently on the USC water polo team. Former teacher and coach Aaron Chaney came to watch a few games and we were able to have dinner one night with Aaron and his wife. Iolani alumni Greg Ocasek ('83) and Don Wright ('82) also made the dinner. All of the above would like to make their way back to Hawaii , but can't seem to muster the will. Apparently their high-paying jobs make the smog, traffic, and attitudes worth their while.
Will this trip help the team down the road? Only time will tell. We have a big game this Friday at Iolani against the team made up of names of colors. Showtime is 6:00 p.m. Hope all will be there. This will be the last time our four seniors, Chase, Andy, Rayfe, and Vinnie, play against this team in their home pool.
Let's hope for a memorable game for them.
Time for moe moe,
Randy
