Ambergrist May 2003

Getting best of Valhalla buoys Poway

By Denny Bulcao Jr.
SPECIAL TO THE UNION-TRIBUNE

October 2, 2003

Poway 9 Valhalla 7

EL CAJON - Yesterday marked the annual renewal of the north-east water polo rivalry between Poway and Valhalla.

After the squads battled to a halftime draw, Poway junior Craig Erickson scored three of his game-high six goals en route to a 9-7 victory.

It was a confidence-building win for Poway (8-7), which, despite entering the contest with a five-match losing streak, is still the San Diego Section's No. 2-ranked high school team in Division I.

"Valhalla's always been a rival of Poway," Titans coach Dan Crane said. "I've been at Poway 11 years, and it's always been one of our big games during the year. So, whether they're Division I or Division II, it doesn't matter to us. We want to beat them."

Valhalla (6-4), ranked fifth in its first year as a Division II team, could not find an answer for Erickson.

"Number 14, Craig, was clearly their strongest player," Valhalla coach Ryan Needles said. "I was telling them all game long, 'We need to drop in on him and stop him from scoring. Make them find another way to score.' My team could just not get that through their heads. We're just not quite doing the right things to win."

Poway held its first lead at 5-4 when Erickson scored 42 seconds into the third quarter.

With 2:03 left in the third, Valhalla's Brian Zitren scored a floater over Mark Stemler for a 6-6 deadlock. Twenty-seven seconds after Erickson's fifth goal, Titans teammate Garrett Buehner drove home what proved to be the match-winner.

Philip Amberg led the Norsemen with three goals.

"We were really psyched to play this game," he said. "I felt before the game that we could do this. We gave them a run for their money in the first half and I don't know what happened after that."

The scoring outburst wasn't new for Erickson, who had turned in seven-goal performances in two previous matches.

"It was just a really great win for us since we lost our last five games in a row," Erickson said. "We came together as a team finally and got it done."

Crane offered a simple analysis of the Titans' second-half strategy.

"I just told them they needed to do what we do better," he said. "They were much more patient. They got the ball to the right person at the right time."