Water Polo: San Marino Stopped by Hoover

With a tough Rio Hondo League schedule ahead, coach Mark Barr scheduled some opponents that he hopes will prepare his Titans for the likes of La Cañada and South Pasadena.

Tuesday afternoon San Marino traveled to Hoover High in Glendale to face the Tornadoes.

The match turned out to be rather tough on the Titans, as Hoover earned a 22-4 nonleague victory.

“They’re a strong team,” Barr said of Hoover.  “Right now their experience showed against ours.”

Hoover (10-3) received a nine-goal effort from senior Hakop Kaplanyan. Two seasons ago Kaplanyan set a CIF Southern Section record with 229 goals in a single season.

San Marino (4-9) trailed 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, but scored the first goal of the second quarter as Kevin Fong put back a shot that had hit the post.

The Titans scored three times in the final quarter.

Nicholas Lakon tipped in a ball past the Hoover goalie to make it 17-2.

Alex Kang scored a left-handed shot in the corner to make it 18-3. Eric Thvedt capped the scoring for the Titans as he beat Hoover’s goalie in a one-on-one breakaway opportunity.

“I saw some effort from some of my kids on my bench and some of that I didn’t see from the starters,” Barr said. “Hoover is a very talented team. They’re up there with the the La Canadas, the Glendales and the Pasadena Polys. If you go by our score it is a reflection of that. We still have a long ways to go to get to where we want to be.”