HS Water Polo: More Aquatic Action for the Panther, War Eagle, Tiger, and Cavalier Programs at the CISD Natatorium

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The teams of District 13-6A returned to the pool on Wednesday with hopes of notching some more district wins. The teams of Oak Ridge, Caney Creek, Conroe, and College Park entered the water to face one another to continue shaking up the standings in their favor.

Here are the games from Wednesday’s action.

Match One: The Caney Creek Lady Panthers 4 vs. The Oak Ridge Lady War Eagles 16

The first match of the day opened with a flurry of scoring despite Caney Creek’s best efforts. The Lady Panthers stuck two players in goal as opposed to the normal singular keeper. This did not prevent the Lady War Eagles from scoring almost at will, matching the offense shown by their opponents.

The first half ended after a series of stoppages and penalties against both squads with the score at 8-3 in favor of Oak Ridge.

The lack of an additional defender in favor of an extra keeper ended up causing more harm to the Lady Panthers team than it did help. The Lady War Eagles were able to move the ball close to the goal with limited opposition and score goals with efficiency. This strategic miscue resulted in Oak Ridge winning by a score of 16-4.

Match Two: The Caney Creek Panthers 1 vs. The Oak Ridge War Eagles 20

For the first boys match of the day, the War Eagles looked to complete the program sweep of Caney Creek.

In under a minute, both teams had scored their first points. This trend of fast goals would become the defining trait of the match as the score quickly began to balloon. At the end of the first quarter, the teams combined for nine goals with Oak Ridge in front by seven.

The scoring resulted from Caney Creek adopting their double-goalie tactic which gave up breakaway opportunities for easy looks. The Panthers would come nowhere close to matching the offensive attack of the War Eagles with their goal in the first quarter being their only point at halftime as they trailed 14-1.

After their defensive and offensive deficiency, the Panthers decided to bring their second keeper out of the goal and use them as their intended defender. With a full formation, Caney Creek was able to apply more pressure on the Oak Ridge goalkeeper who was forced to make more saves in the third quarter than he had in the entire first half.

This did not stop the War Eagles, as they kept up their pressure with full-length lobs to their attackers for scoring opportunities. By the time both teams exited the pool, Oak Ridge had long sealed a 20-1 victory that completed the program sweep.

Match Three: The College Park Lady Cavaliers 4 vs. The Conroe Lady Tigers 11

Sparks started flying early in the third match of the day. Both teams preferred to catch their opponents off-guard by taking long-distance shots at goal which made for a slow-scoring, defensive affair to open.

With the Lady Tigers ahead by one entering the second quarter, the Lady Cavs began working their way closer to goal for shots. Backing down defenders and careful passing became the strategy for the Lady Cavaliers.

Neither team could find offensive traction after the changes with Conroe only tacking on two goals to bring the halftime score to 5-2 with the Lady Tigers up.

A handful of goals and continued stingy defense would characterize the third quarter. College Park struggled to penetrate the Conroe defense which forced them to go back to longshots. Meanwhile, Conroe repeatedly made their way through the Lady Cav defense to the sound of three goals added before the fourth quarter arrived.

Some added goals would come from College Park in the fourth, but not enough to complete the comeback. Lockdown goalkeeping and Conroe breakaways allowed the Lady Tigers to finish the job and win 11-4.

Match Four: The College Park Cavaliers 19 vs. The Conroe Tigers 5

College Park took to the pool and immediately launched an offensive flurry on Conroe. It took 15 seconds for the Cavaliers to notch their first point and the scoring would only snowball from there. The Cavs dominantly ended the first quarter with a 10-1 lead against the Tigers.

The floodgates were fully open for College Park as they were able to pile on five more goals in the second quarter while shutting out Conroe. The continued dominance pushed the Cavs up 15-1 at the half.

A running clock was put in place to start the second half with substitutes following shortly after. College Park brought in their backup units who proceeded to score another goal in quick pace. Lacking the ability to sub, the Conroe Tigers were forced to scrap for points in the face of long odds. The team was able to triple their score before the end of the third as College Park remained firmly in control, 16-3.

In the fourth, both teams would trade points as the defenses relaxed their coverage. With their lead taken from start to finish, College Park walked away with a blowout, 19-5 win.