Panthers beat Westlake in water polo, 14-7, both remain optimistic

The Newbury Park boys’ water polo team defeated Westlake, 14-7, in a match held at the Westlake High School pool last Friday afternoon.

The Panthers were paced by Billy Doherty, a junior, and Robbie Bauer, a senior, who each had four goals, and Dan Carson, a senior, who scored three, while also getting a goal each from sophomore Kyle Ripley, and juniors Ryan Gellison and Chris Wall.

For the Warriors, Robbie Dietz and Duncan Shuler each had two goals and Cole Olmon, Austin McElvaney and Bruce McCunney scored one apiece.

"I’m not sure if we showed up ready to play or not," said Newbury Park coach Jim McMillan. "It’s a league game and everybody is going to get fired up for league games and play their best against us and it’s a learning experience for our guys."

The Panthers led only by one, 7-6, before scoring the final goal of the first half—they led 8-6 at halftime—and then scoring the first four goals of the second half to lead, 12-6.

"We stress defense a lot and we’re a much better defensive team than we showed," said McMillan, referring to the first half vs. Westlake. "We’re getting there. We’re coming around."

Justin Shawger, a junior, is the Panther goalie and the Newbury Park coach said he’s a key to the team’s success.

"You can’t win anything without a good goalie," said McMillan. "He’s (Shawger) doing nothing but getting better. He’s learning. We’ve put in a whole new system for these kids in the last three weeks, so they have a lot to learn."

McMillan is a first-year Panther coach who previously coached at Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

"I think the key for us is communicating on defense," said McMillan. "The guys need to talk to each other in the water."

The Newbury Park coach said it’s also vital to have veterans leading the way.

"Robbie (Bauer) and Danny (Carson) are our seniors and you can’t do much without senior leadership," said McMillan. "We need them to perform every single day."

Bauer led the county in scoring as a junior.

"I’ve been learning a lot about leadership this year," said Bauer. "That’s what this year has been about—trying to be a role model and getting everyone to gel together—to do what we have to do to win."

Carson said he’s surprised how competitive the Marmonte League appears to be.

"I thought Westlake was going to be an easy game and they definitely weren’t," said Carson. "You can’t take anyone lightly. Westlake is not a pushover, nor is league going to be a pushover either."

The Newbury Park coach agreed.

"Agoura took us to the buzzer and these guys (Westlake) gave us a great game," said McMillan. "The league is wide open. It’s a strong league top to bottom."

Now in his third year as Westlake head coach, Todd Irmas said the Warriors are beginning to earn respect around the league.

"Westlake has been a doormat for a long time, but our guys are learning how to be competitive and how to win," said Irmas. "We play with a lot of energy. We know were not going to outmuscle guys—we’re not a big, strong team. We have to use our quickness and we have to use our smarts."

The Warrior coach was pleased with his team’s effort despite the loss to powerful Newbury Park.

"We have to play a lot of helping defense," Irmas said. "We did a real good job of that and got a lot of steals with guys sliding across and helping."

Irmas said his players are building themselves up, not just physically, but psychologically as well.

"The mental part of the game is so important," he said. "Your mindset, when you start the game and coming into the game, is huge. If you’re down and think you’re going to lose, you don’t play well. If you’re up and you have confidence, you play much better."

Newbury Park improved to 8-1 on the season with the win. Westlake fell to 0-1 in league.