Flintridge Prep boys’ water polo provides final learning lesson for St. Francis

PASADENA — Though the meaning of summer activity varies per local school and program, Wednesday afternoon’s final game of the Pasadena Polytechnic boys’ water polo summer league had a little extra meaning.

The contest marked the last tune-up of the summer for St. Francis High, which will begin its first-ever season of varsity water polo in September.

Before then, however, city and pool rival Flintridge Prep gave the Golden Knights a sound lesson via a 20-7 victory in Pasadena.

“The seniors took control and that was the main thing for us,” said Flintridge Prep assistant coach Andrew Phillips, who was filling in for vacationing head coach Dan Hare. “We had a lot of patience on offense and the defense looked great. I saw a lot of fire from them.”

The reigning Prep League champion Rebels, who share their home pool with St. Francis, were down coaches and players, with only seven athletes present and alumnus Diego Delgado on the bench ready to fill in in an emergency role.

Despite the small roster, the Rebels received big contributions from seniors Evan Havunjian and Scott Fordham.

Havunjian led all scorers with nine goals, six steals and four assists, while Fordham added five goals and five assists.

“We don’t have the bodies that we usually have during the regular season, so right now it’s more about teaching the younger players about the game,” Havunjian said. “It’s a good experience for the upperclassmen.”

Flintridge Prep effectively put the game away in the third quarter.

The Rebels led, 10-5, at the break and smothered the Golden Knights, who were forced to primarily shoot from the perimeter. Though St. Francis attempted six shots in the quarter, only one came from within five meters of the net.

That goal was a breakthrough, however, as St. Francis junior Dante Valle scored on an assist from Jack Salseda at the 2:55 mark in the third to bring the Golden Knights within 13-6. The score came on St. Francis’ only successful six-on-five chance as the Golden Knights finished one for five in such opportunities.

Salseda’s goal, however, was the only of the third quarter as Fordham added two goals and an assist and Flintridge Prep won the frame, 4-1, and took a 14-6 advantage into the third.

“It’s a new program and we’re going to have some struggles, but I’m still proud of how we played,” said St. Francis senior Aidan Marick, who finished with a team-high three goals, three steals and one assist. “We actually started off really strong, but then Flintridge Prep came back.”

Marick scored two of St. Francis’ first four goals as the Golden Knights pounced on the Rebels and took a 4-2 lead at the 1:16 mark in the first quarter.

Flintridge Prep, however, scored the last three goals of the first to take a 5-4 lead after one. That 3-0 spurt turned into an 8-1 run by halftime as Havunjian added five goals as the Rebels led, 10-5, at the end of the first half.

Flintridge Prep was also dominant in winning the fourth quarter, 5-1.

Despite the loss, St. Francis Coach Brady Lowdermilk was grateful to Poly for the valuable summer league and was looking forward to the Golden Knights’ first contest.

“In this game in particular, we had a few guys missing who usually take the reins for the team, so it was good to force some of the other guys into positions of leadership,” Lowdermilk said. “We’ve got a lot of seniors and a lot guys new to the program and we need the experience.

“We know Flintridge Prep is a very good team and playing them only prepares us for the year.”