Panthers put up fight, go down to Emperors

Porterville boys water polo took a hit with its first league loss of the season — an 11-9 decision to Dinuba at home — but the Panthers (3-1) made sure the Emperors wouldn’t leave without a few scratches on Monday.

Though the Emperors (11-4, 3-1 league) led from start to finish, they needed all four quarters to put down the pesky Panthers.

Both squads displayed a brand of physical water polo that drew numerous kickouts and ejections from both rosters. But Porterville’s consequences proved more costly.

Dinuba’s Justin Lopez scored a game-high eight goals, but three of them were 5-meter (penalty) shots as a result of Porterville’s relentlessly physical interior play.

Dinuba drew two penalty shots in the opening quarter to launch a 3-0 lead by quarter’s end and a 6-2 lead at the half.

“Their first four goals were 5-meter shots and man-up (situations), so they were coming kinda fast,” Porterville coach Mickey Goularte said. “But what can you do? Our guys are still pretty inexperienced and certain players just haven’t figured out how to play without fouling.”

It wasn’t until early in the second period that Porterville finally got on the board. Alec MacIsaac drew a foul midway up the pool, then catapulted the ball to the other side to Derek Vanderstoel, who scored at the head of a counter-attack from the right wing.

Moments later, MacIsaac rifled a shot into the lower left corner of the cage to get the Panthers within 3-2.

But Lopez, with his back to the goal, spun and skidded a shot past Panthers goalie Joey McIntire and scored again on the same move a minute later.

Perhaps the worst dagger of the evening came at the buzzer of the first half.

With the seconds counting down, Dinuba’s Justin Klassen raced for a long pass thrown ahead while McIntire left the cage in hopes of beating Klassen to the ball. But Klassen got there first and quickly lobbed a shot into the net.

That last shot seemed to stir the beast in Porterville hole set Dakota Schieler, who erupted in the second half for all five of his team-high goals.

Schieler fired three shots from nearly the same spot in the third quarter, scoring on all of them.

“That was the shot I was waiting for,” Goularte said. “Dakota usually gets his shots but today, I don’t know why, he was hesitant. If he’s not working for his shot, we’re gonna hurt.”

Lopez responded for the Emperors with two more goals in the third to keep his squad on top at 9-5.

“He is solid,” Goularte said of Lopez. “I saw him before and overall, I thought we did a prety good job on him. But they know how to utilize him.”

Porterville driver Luke Peltzer got in on the action with back-to-back goals in the fourth quarter to bring his team within 9-7. But as the Panthers closed the gap, the intensity increased a notch and Peltzer was often in the thick of it.

Peltzer drew a couple of kickouts, including one during a crucial moment in the fourth quarter when, with Dinuba one man up, scored twice — both by Lopez, of course.

“Luke got into foul trouble and that hurt us,” Goularte said. “Right now, he doesn’t know how to contain it.”

Goularte liked that his squad didn’t back down from the Emperors, however.

“They came out and played a physical game and I thought we were matching their pysical play,” he said, “but I thought they were getting away with some stuff.”

Even Goularte was tagged with a yellow card during the final period for voicing his displeasure at the official.

“I guess I got on his nerves,” he shrugged.

Despite being down 11-7, Porterville refused to lie down. MacIsaac drew a penalty shot near the hole and gave the ball to Schieler, who scored.

Schieler then pulled off the defensive play of the night in the final minute. The senior chased down a missed shot after the rest had begun to swim back up the pool and scored from long range while Dinuba goalkeeper Rafael Bedolla wasn’t looking.

“I was really pleased with our defense,” Goularte said, “but the problem all along was our offense. We just weren’t flexible enough to try something new. It’s our job to utilize our players the best we can and we didn’t do that.

“I wasn’t too impressed with (Dinuba’s) defense,” Goularte added. “We should’ve been able to score on that goalie.”

Dinuba also got a goal each from Angel Perez and Derek Perez.

Porterville (3-1 league) next plays Granite Hills on Wednesday.