Early loss to Mercer? No worries

Published 7:00 pm Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Team Ray finds some positives after an 18-4 defeat to the ‘other’ islanders.

It was an ugly game for Team Ray in their 18-4 loss to Mercer Island last Wednesday, but head coach Zoltan Tusnadi stressed the positives after their match against the Islanders.

“Playing Mercer Island, you just want to play well and not turn the ball over,” he said. “As long as we did stuff that I set out to do in the game – which we did – I was pleased with a lot that I saw out there.”

“They’re a good club,” senior co-captain Caelen Ball said. “But I think Team Ray isn’t going to look like we did (against Mercer) all season. We hit on a lot of a good points out there. We did what we wanted to do.”

Ray looks to improve as they compete for a state title in the 2006 season.

Last year, they went 20-6 overall and 4-0 in their division, earning a fourth seed at State. There, they struggled, finishing in eighth place.

This year, they’ll have to make do without some of their top players in Jake Santelli, Jon Swanson (now the JV coach) and Hungarian standout Tomas Torok, but Ray has some returners ready to guide them back to State.

Senior and Defensive MVP Cheyne Clark returns as goalkeeper, as does Ball (who has spent all four years on the team), senior Andrew Stewart, Cooper Ashley, Austin Hallett and PJ Trimble.

Ball leads the team with six goals so far, while Trimble and Ashley have five apiece.

“Cooper’s coming into his own,” Ball said. “He’s got great hands.”

“These guys have played together for a little while,” Tusnadi said. “This year my goal is to make it second nature where their teammates are going to be, what they’re doing instead of catching the ball and think about something. They should be going on instinct.”

“Our first game (against Shorewood) they were nowhere even close to being (a team),” Tusnadi continued. “This game (against Mercer Island), believe it or not, they were starting to play as a team a whole lot better.”

While Ray has several players who can score goals, Tusnadi said they don’t have a “superstar” threat who can carry them in games.

“We don’t have that impact player this year,” he said. “So we need them to work as a group. That’s how we’re going to succeed.”

Some of the younger players expected to be the backbone of Ray in the upcoming years are a group of nine freshmen currently on the JV squad. They showed their promise when they rallied from a 5-1 deficit to end their game against Mercer’s JV squad in a 6-6 tie.

David Ortyn, Eli Jacobsen and Sam Pollock could make their name on the varsity team as well this season.

“He’s (Sam) little, but he’s like a Jack Russell terrier,” Tusnadi said. “He’ll take on the big boys and won’t think twice about it.”

The big keys for Ray to succeed this season are to limit the turnovers and work as a group, Tusnadi said.

“They’re starting to do that,” he said. “But turnovers are key. Playing a team like Mercer, those turnovers usually come back and wind up being a fast break goal. This year, I think we’ll steadily progress and get better after each game.”

Ball said their passing will be a crucial skill for them to master, along with finding weaknesses in their opponents.

“I felt really good (out there) and there’s a lot of promise on this team,” he said.

Ray lost to Bellevue 19-8 on Saturday, while the JV lost a close game to Bellevue by the score of 13-12.

They travel to Newport tomorrow, then take part in the Washington Water

Polo Club Fall Classic at the King County Aquatic Center this weekend and play Shorewood Wednesday at the same place.

Their next home game is Sept. 30 against Roosevelt. Game time is 5:30 p.m.

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Water polo

The Team Ray water polo schedule is subject to change. For updates, see www.teamray.org.

9/21 – at Newport, 6:20 p.m.

9/22-9/24 – at Washington Water Polo Club Fall Classic at King County Aquatic Center, times and opponents TBA

9/27 – at Shorewood at KCAC, 8 p.m.

9/30 – Roosevelt, 5:30 p.m.

10/4 – Cowlitz at KCAC, 8 p.m.

10/6 – Newport, 5:30 p.m.

10/7-10/8 – Shorewood tournament at Shorewood HS, 8 a.m.

10/12 – Curtis, 8:45 p.m.

10/13 – Sammamish, 5:30 p.m.

10/15 – E. Catholic, 5:20 p.m.

10/17 – Bellevue at Woodridge Swim Club, 6:30 p.m.

10/18 – Kentridge at KCAC, 8 p.m.

10/25 – Roosevelt at KCAC, 8 p.m.

10/28 – Shorewood, Kentridge at Team Ray tournament at BAC, times TBA.

11/3-11/5 – State tournament at KCAC, times TBA.