By Phillip Brents

Posted Sept. 21, 2005

The standard by which all other Bonita Vista High School boys water polo teams have been measured remains the 1995 squad that finished second — by one goal — in the San Diego Section Division I championship game. That could change this year after the Barons recorded a meteoric second-place finish in the finals of last weekend’s 32-team Poway Invitational.

Bonita Vista’s lone loss came against defending Division I champion Carlsbad — a team that the rest of the section has used as a yardstick the past few seasons.

Photo: Barons pose with second-place Poway Invitational trophy.

"We are really deep this year, I can count on any one of my varsity players to step up on any given day. We are priding ourselves on great team defense and everyone is playing their role on offense, which is different every game and time down the pool," said Baron coach Dan Way, whose team finished runner-up to the Lancers after a 14-3 setback.

"We are a threat from all areas of the pool and are beginning to see the pool well. The Poway Invitational was a good start to the season for us. We have been working hard and it showed in our intensity and heart."

Last year was supposed to be "the team" to match what the almost legendary 1995 squad accomplished but that dream fell short with a loss in the quarterfinal-round of the playoffs to Vista. This year’s squad — which returns a hefty number of retuners — has taken on Way’s challenge to finish climbing the mountain that dominates the elite ranks of the sport in the section.

The Barons did their best at dominating the early rounds of the Poway Invitational by defeating El Cajon Valley (22-1), Helix (17-4), Fountain Valley (12-5) and Torrey Pines (12-6). Senior Josh Harris scored five goals in the latter game, which came in the tournament semifinals, while juniors Derrick Clair-Williams and Gabriel Gonzales each had three goals. Harris had seven goals in the win against Helix.

But Way continues to stress the concepts of team, hard work and setting and achieving goals.

Seniors this season besides Harris include Zack Bowman, Chris Hakes, Carlos Escaba, Dennis Shulz, Ross Diaz, Niko Marshal and John Tessitore. Juniors include Robert Newman, Beto Vasquez, Landon Loitz, Justin Hulson and Kevin Burman.

Way said his team came out "with fire" in the semifinal game against Torrey Pines, managing to get Corey Nasoff ,the Falcons marquee player, to foul out of the game. Ironically, several Barons have Nasoff as a teammate during offseason play with the San Diego Shores club team. "What a great team performance. Everyone contributed and everyone had a reason to feel great," Way said.

The championship game against Carlsbad was exactly what Way had been hoping for after several attempts at scaling water polo’s version of Mt. Everest. "We came out strong and scored the first goal of the game, then had some trouble finding our offense against a well-coached and mature Carlsbad team. We forced our offense a bit which lead to four counter goals in the first quarter," the BV coach said.

Way said the Barons are pleased with their second place finish to the defending Division I champions and will learn a lot from the loss. "It has fueled our fire that much more. It has made practices filled with intensity and desire. We knew from the beginning that we had a mountain to climb and we are willing a preparing to climb to the top. We will enjoy plateaus along the way and we will keep pushing, growing and bonding, until we are the best that we can be," Way said.

The end goal will hopefully be realized in November in the CIF title game. "We dream of floating in the water with our index finger pointed in the air and we are willing to do whatever it takes to get there," Way said.

That includes 4:45 a.m. practices, late pool time as well as social sacrifices with friends and family.

The Barons will put their runner-up finish on the line in this weekend’s 32-team America’s Finest City tournament. Medal-round matches are scheduled Saturday, Sept. 25, at the new Coronado Aquatics Center, beginning at 4 p.m.

Joining Bonita Vista from the Metro Conference in this year’s AFC tourney are Eastlake and Mar Vista.