Hoover boys’ water polo bounces Glendale to stay undefeated in Pacific League

With plenty of experience and prolific talent, it’s not hard to motivate the Hoover High boys’ water polo team.

The Tornadoes feature nine seniors who have played a major role in shaping the team’s foundation. One of them is Levon Gukasyan, a driver who brings superb defense, speed and an accurate shot to the fold.

Playing in front of a large crowd Hoover got a match-high six goals from Gukasyan on Wednesday in a 25-9 Pacific League home win against cross-town rival Glendale.

“We have a team that’s done a pretty good job in different areas,” said Gukasyan, a senior utility. “We have a lot of good shooters on each side and we have some real good drivers, so that gives the team a lot of good options.

“It’s first about playing good defense, because that will eventually carry to having a good offense. We’ve put ourselves in good position to win league. It’s just a step-by-step process.”

Hoover, ranked ninth in CIF Southern Section Division II, improved to 6-0 in league. It will be the top seed in the league tournament, which will be held Tuesday and Thursday at Burbank High. Glendale dipped to 6-9, 1-5 in league.

Hoover, which finished second in league last season, held a 9-1 lead after the first quarter. Gukasyan had three goals and Aren Sukiasyan tallied four in the opening quarter. Gukasyan opened the scoring just 22 seconds into the contest and made it 8-0 with 1:15 remaining. Sukiasyan capped the first-quarter scoring with 19 seconds left.

“We’re definitely feeling good with the way we are playing,” Hoover Coach Kevin Witt said. “They are playing some of their best water polo right now and that’s exactly what we want to see moving forward.

“We’ve addressed being able to start fast because that often sets the tempo. Everybody seems to feed of it.”

A goal by Harout Ashkharian gave Hoover a 12-1 lead midway through the second quarter. Gukasyan later scored two goals in the second quarter to help the Tornadoes take a 15-2 lead into the intermission.

Hoover, which advanced to the CIF quarterfinals last season, held a 22-4 lead after the third quarter. David Ashkharian and Jordan Corpuz collected two goals apiece in the third quarter

“We have a pretty young team and there’s a lot of things our players can take from this game,” Glendale Coach Narek Vardanian said. “It can be from things like passing, to playing quality defense to getting counter-attacks.

“We can be better in learning a few lessons from here. I liked the way we fought all the way to the end. That’s all I can ask. We just had a real tough first quarter and it just snowballed from there.”

Hoover got three goals from Corpuz, two each from Marcelo Bassi, David Ashkharian, Harout Ashkharian, Robert Akopyan and Levon Haik Gukasyan and one from Nektaris Tsaturyan and Jared Levine

Hoover goalkeeper Jonathan Salandi finished with 15 saves in three quarters.

Glendale got a team-best three goals from Vachik Gharibyan, two from Alan Mirzaians and one from Michael Georgizian, Liam Graham, Nick Schmitt and Stephen Karapetyan.