Tuesday evening’s varsity water polo match between the Mountain View Spartans and Wilcox Chargers featured a pair of teams on opposite sides of the pool, both physically and metaphorically. A veteran Spartans squad swam away with an eventual 15-6 victory in its home water. The Chargers, on the other hand, battled the team’s fierce opponent while featuring a heavy dose of freshman duo of Yash Arude and Lorenzo Cinco. 

“They are learning how to play with older teammates and find their footing with the varsity team,” acknowledged Chargers Head Coach Rich Cruzen. “We do actually have a bunch of seniors that are three years older than them. They are good young players, but they have a lot of room to grow and things to get better at as well. We are really looking forward to seeing their development and eventually become big impact players on this team.” 

One of the key senior leaders that Arude and Cinco are learning from is Ehren Krause. The fourth-year attacker scored three of the Chargers’ six goals against the Spartans. 

“I can be a bit hard on them,” admitted Krause on helping his young teammates improve. “But they are amazing kids. I definitely wasn’t as good as them when I was a freshman. They got into water polo early and they work really hard.” 

For Arude and Cinco, they know they are fortunate to have each other to lean on and go through the experience together when receiving the tough love and coaching from older teammates and coaches. 

“It’s amazing to be able to play together on varsity,” chimed Arude, who scored the Chargers’ opening goal against the Spartans. “We play together on club as well and therefore our chemistry is really good. I absolutely love having him as my teammate.” 

“I love having Yash as my teammate,” echoed Cinco, returning the sentiment. “It’s super fun; I always look forward to practice after school. I always look forward to the games, especially third and fourth quarters when he comes to the 4-5 side. I love having him right next to me. It’s a joy to play with him.” 

The two freshmen bring their raw skills to the pool, but they are fully aware of the challenges of going up against bigger and stronger opponents. 

“The hardest part is definitely the size for me,” noted Arude. “I’m not someone who is very big, so it takes a lot of effort and challenge to fight up against these guys. However, I think it is better to play against guys that are bigger because you get to improve your own game.” 

With the season still in the early stages, Wilcox still has plenty of time to improve. The Chargers will also have the next four games to build and improve their play before getting a chance at a rematch against the Spartans in the friendly confines of the team’s home pool on Oct. 6. 

Rounding out the scoring for Wilcox on Tuesday were Xavier Herrera and Navid Matinpour. 

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