Woodbridge opens new pool with a victory

Woodbridge’s boys water polo team christened its new on-campus pool Wednesday afternoon with a 14-8 nonleague victory over Marina in the season opener for both teams.

The Warriors seemed to feed off the energy of their home fans jumping to a 4-0 lead late in the first quarter and were in command the rest of the way. Woodbridge had played its matches at the Woollett Aquatics Center near Irvine High in the past.

“It was a great experience for our players to have a home crowd,” Woodbridge coach Matt Campbell said. “Part of the high school experience is being able to play in front of your home crowd and we had a great turnout and the stands were full.

"There was a lot of support for the home team and that’s something we haven’t had in the past and something that will be a real positive experience for our players and the school.”

Woodbridge senior Gabe Sandoval took a pass from goalkeeper Zach Tudhope and worked his way into position to score the first goal in the new pool with 6:04 remaining in the first quarter.

“It was very exciting,” Sandoval said. “A lot of emotions went through my head. The first one is that we were up by one and it was a good way to start out the new season.”

The couple hundred Woodbridge fans had plenty to cheer about after that.

“Home games are a lot more fun,” Sandoval said. “Having a student section rooting you on helps motivate you and push you through when you’re tired. We’ll take game by game but we’re looking forward to this season.”

Woodbridge led, 7-3, at halftime and broke the match open by outscoring Marina, 5-2, in the third quarter.

“We’re still working on things, but it was a good start for us,” Campbell said. “We have a long ways to go, but it’s good to be 1-0 and get a victory in your home pool.”

Junior Travis Kissinger led Woodbridge with four goals. Sandoval, Alex Chung and Eric Marshall had two goals each. Tudhope had nine saves for Woodbridge.

Marina was led by Dylan Cardona, who had three goals. Goalkeeper Michael Wolf recorded 10 saves for the Vikings.