Nitros thump rivals

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — The last thing Bobby Zirovich expected to do was go for a swim. His team had other plans for its coach.

Moments after the Glendale High water polo team defeated Hoover, 15-8, on Wednesday, Zirovich joined in the celebration after he was tossed into the pool by his team — suit, tie and all.

“This is the best game of their season,” said a soaked Zirovich. “Hoover beat us last year and [the kids] are excited to take the city trophy back.”

The Tornadoes defeated the Nitros, 18-14, in a Pacific League match a year ago, snapping a 13-match losing streak against their cross-town foe.

This time around, Glendale used a potent offensive attack in the second half and stingy defense to match, as it outscored Hoover 11-4 after halftime.

Early in the first quarter, the two teams played each other as close as possible.

Glendale’s Aram Pogosian got the match’s first goal just 30 seconds in. Hoover answered back as Luka Martinovic found the back of the cage to tie the game at 1.

No team held an advantage of more than one, as the two traded goals to even the score at 4 heading into halftime.

The next 14 minutes saw the Nitros (3-4 in league) go on a rampage and the offense of Hoover (2-5 in league) sputter out.

“We played a strong game in the first half,” Hoover Coach Matt Jung said. “We had some moments where we were really on.

“In the second half, we lost focus.”

Hoover’s leading scorer, Martinovic, scored his fifth and final goal of the match with 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 8-6. That was as close as the Tornadoes would get.

Zirovich praised his defense as it limited Martinovic to only one second-half goal.

“Patrick Morissey was the MVP today,” Zirovich said. “He just locked down Martinovic.

“He was like a black hole, the ball went in and didn’t come out.”

Pogosian and Eduard Moslov led the Nitros’ offensive attack with three goals apiece. Goalie Andrew Hunter came up huge with 21 saves.

For Hoover, it was a tough way to end a positive season.

After getting off to a fast start, the Tornadoes struggled down the stretch against superior opponents, including the league’s best two teams in Crescenta Valley and Burbank, Jung said.

“Just because the last four games were the hardest, doesn’t mean the season is a failure,” he said.

On the opposite side of the pool, the Nitros improved dramatically throughout a season which included losing 10 one-goal games.

Said Zirovich: “Bottom line, we are a very young team, so it’s great to be at this point at the end of the season.”