Estancia pool of depth still shallow

Barry Faulkner

With 2:19 remaining and her team leading, 11-7, Mater Dei High boys

water polo coach Erin Kelly emptied the bench. At no time was this an

option for Estancia Coach John Carpenter, who plays with the bare

minimum of seven players.

The Eagles’ roster, decimated further by illness Monday, forced

Carpenter to enlist some help from his junior varsity to fill out the

lineup. The result was a pair of pool-play losses in the Estancia

tournament at the Eagles’ pool.

“I believe they call it bullpen by committee,” Carpenter said of

the his limited pool of talent, which, he believes, helped Mater Dei

earn a 14-11 triumph.

The Eagles lost, 10-8, to Warren in the first game Monday, despite

leading, 7-5, after three quarters.

“It’s a little tough for us, because we can’t make the second line

change with other teams,” Carpenter said. “When that happens,

eventually, one of their counterattacks is going to sneak through.

That’s what happened [against Mater Dei].”

With Estancia senior goalie Nathan Marsteller home sick, junior

field player Richard McElveny was called upon to man the cage against

the Monarchs.

McElveny, who hadn’t played goalie since his freshman year, made

five saves. But the Eagles couldn’t keep pace with a Mater Dei

offense that had eight different goal scorers.

“I thought Richard made some good saves and had some good outlet

passes [including one assist],” said Carpenter, who saw plenty of

additional positives from his squad.

“Paul [Collier, a senior two-meter man] had a good game in the

hole [four goals] and I was particularly pleased with Chad Kunert

[four goals]. I thought Kunert had a couple of breakaways and he was

very patient and put the ball where he needed to . He has really

improved his patience and shot selection.”

Carpenter also praised his team’s aggressiveness against Mater

Dei, an element that had been lacking against Warren.

“We didn’t play with much aggression or tenacity against Warren,

but we did against Mater Dei,” Carpenter said. “I know that these

players have that in them. If we can play with this kind of intensity

[today] when we play Saddleback [in the second Golden West League

game of the season], we should be competitive.”

The Eagles were competitive throughout against the Monarchs (6-5),

who defeated Woodbridge, 13-5, in their pool-play opener Monday.

Estancia junior Sean Goodman scored on an assist by Travis Todd, a

junior varsity call-up, with 3:00 left in the first quarter to tie

the game. The Eagles (3-7) stayed within four goals until Mater Dei

made it 12-7 with 1:54 left in the game.

Collier, who scored seven goals against Warren, scored twice on

powerful shots to the lower left corner, while positioned on the left

wing. He also scored twice from the hole.

Kunert had three of his goals on the counterattack, while senior

Anthony Hermann had three assists and a team-leading four steals.

Estancia outshot the Monarchs, 25-20.

Estancia resumes tournament action Saturday, wrapping up pool play

against Woodbridge at 9 a.m. The championship game is scheduled for

3:50 p.m. Saturday, preceded by the third-place game (3 p.m.), the

fifth-place game (2:10) and the seventh-place game (1:20).

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Estancia tournament

Pool play

Mater Dei 14, Estancia 11

Score by Quarters

Mater Dei 2 2 4 6 - 14

Estancia 1 1 2 7 - 11

Mater Dei - Baken 4, Schuemer 3, Itano 2,

Stanislav 1, Mirheshemi 1, Carlson 1, Kane 1,

Rubio 1. Saves - Vidal 7.

Estancia - Collier 4, Kunert 4, Goodman 1, Hermann

1, Todd 1. Saves - McElveny 5.

*--*

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Pool play

Warren 10, Estancia 8

Score by Quarters

Warren 2 1 2 5 - 10

Estancia 2 4 1 1 - 8

Warren - Diebling 5, Robert C. 2, Worthey 2,

Caswell 1. Saves - n/a 5.

Estancia - Collier 7, Kunert 1. Saves - Costa 7.

*--*