Ocean View boys’ water polo continues turnaround, tops Marina
- Share via
Ryan Bailey is a name most who follow international men’s water polo are familiar with. After all, the former UC Irvine standout was a four-time Olympian for the United States in the sport, from 2000 through 2012.
“He’s one of the best centers I’ve ever played against, honestly,” Ocean View High boys’ water polo coach Jake Huynen said. “He’s a beast.”
Huynen has a senior team captain for the Seahawks this year, Ryan Bayley, with the same name and pronunciation as Bailey.
And maybe there’s just some magic in the name, as the left-hander has helped Ocean View fly high to open the season.
Junior Reed Chappelear scored five goals as the Seahawks beat visiting Marina, 12-6, in a nonleague game on Thursday afternoon.
Junior Thien Nguyen added four more goals for Ocean View (10-2), which has already surpassed its win total from a season ago when it went 9-19.
“A lot of our goal scorers were juniors and sophomores last year, who are now just older and better,” Huynen said. “We play a lot more as a cohesive unit, rather than relying on one or two guys to do everything for us.”
That was evident in the first half against Marina (4-9). The Seahawks took an 8-1 halftime lead, with the Vikings scoring their only goal on a half-court heave by Kaeden Smythe at the first quarter buzzer.
Marina, to its credit, responded in the third quarter. The Vikings pulled within 9-5 late in the quarter on a goal by senior captain Noah Adling, who led the visitors with three goals.
But Chappelear scored a penalty shot and Bayley had a steal and goal at the buzzer, helping extend the lead back to 11-5.
Bayley scored twice and had a game-high five steals, with Micah Strickland also scoring for Ocean View. Goalkeepers Jayden Yanez and Oz Hughes were stout defensively.
Ocean View is hoping to make noise in the Golden West League, which the Seahawks opened with a 19-6 win over Tustin last week.
“I’m really looking forward to our league,” Bayley said. “I think we’ve got all of them handled. Kennedy might be a threat, but so far we’re doing amazing against teams that are higher ranked than us. That’s going to show to the other league teams — we mean business this year.”
Marina, which earned its first Sunset League win by topping Los Alamitos 18-7 on Wednesday, also got goals from seniors Kenny Ackert and Michael Lee. Smyth recorded eight saves as well as four steals.
Vikings coach Stephen Wight said his team has played well in stretches, which was true Thursday.
“We can play with anybody,” Wight said. “We might start out a little bit slow, or we might finish a little bit slow.”
