Monache shellshocked in season-opening defeat

The popular Marvel super heroes group, the X-Men, had the luxury of honing their skills inside a high-tech “Danger Room,” testing themselves against computerized foes before going out to battle for real.

Unfortunately for Monache’s boys water polo team, the “Danger Room” is pure fiction.

In their first real game all summer for a largely new squad, the Marauders fell to Golden West, 10-6, in a rematch of last fall’s Division II championship game.

Though it could hardly be called a rematch as both teams — depleted of their entire starting lineups — sported different rosters altogether.

But for their first outing of the season, Monache coach Brandon Weaver was pleased.

“We got everybody in the game, we saw some different situational stuff,” he said while noting that the loss is by the same score the Blazers beat them at this time last year. “To be able to play the game with intensity gives you a better picture of where we stand.”

Weaver was impressed with his youngsters’ drive, especially in the fourth quarter when they scored three unanswered goals — two by Derek Walker and one by Matt Lalanne — to close the gap from a 10-3 deficit.

“There’s no way to simulate that stuff in practice,” Weaver said. “The kids aren’t used to shooting at the goal and then swimming back down the pool. You can do it in practice, but there are no officials, there’s no fans and there’s not another team. Nothing reproduces the game like the game itself.”

That might help explain why the Marauders appeared a bit shellshocked — a case of first-game jitters, as Weaver said — in the first quarter as the Blazers took a quick 2-0 lead behind a pair of goals from Brad Collinwood.

But one of the few veteran presences on the squad — Colton Conway — finally got Monache on the board with 2:11 remaining in the second quarter. He did so by scoring back-to-back goals on virtually the same play — streaking down the left side on a counter-attack and scoring two blank-shot goals. Conway finished with a team-high three scores.

After the break, however, Golden West would bounce back with five goals, including three in a row to build the lead to 8-2.

Georan Meendering skidded a shot into the left corner under Monache goalie Evan Thomas’ right arm. After Blazers hole set Michael Henricksen scored a pair from the hole including a soft lob shot, 2008 EYL first-teamer Thomas looked flustered.

“I thought Evan played well,” Weaver said. “He had a lot of saves and then a second rebound scored right after that. It’s hard for a goalie not to (get down) when they score three or four in a row on us and it’s enough to lose your psyche. What impressed me is he played out of it. He made some critical passes and defensive plays. He’s showing that he’s an all-Valley player.”