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Published on 11/11/1996 All articles from this issue

Los Altos boys playing it cool

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By Andy Nystrom / Town Crier Staff Writer

Water polo spotlight

Things looked bleak for Los Altos High's boys water polo team in last week's important home match with Santa Clara.

First, the Eagles' leading scorer Tim Kelsch pulled a chest muscle simply by lifting his arm in the air while talking to a friend at poolside. And minus Kelsch at halftime, they were behind 10-4 and saw second place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division slipping away.

But by digging into their past and realizing all the dedication - morning and evening practices and a summer's worth of training - they had given to the sport, the Eagles worked toward their future by staging an exciting 18-17 overtime victory. With the win, Los Altos (6-1) is division runner-up to Saratoga (7-0) and has a good shot at faring well in this week's postseason tournament and notching a Central Coast Section berth.

Junior Jon Wiener elaborated on Los Altos' second-half turnaround against Santa Clara.

"I guess we got mad and started talking to each other (about winning). Especially Roy Dar, he's always talking," he said. "Plus the juniors and sophomores had never lost a game at home. We're pretty proud of that streak and were excited to keep it alive."

Dar led the charge with five goals on the day, followed by Wiener and Tibor Andrejka with four, Brian Henry and Erik Koland with two and Jesse Lewin with one.

While Wiener didn't realize it at the time, his goal that put the Eagles up 18-16 with a minute remaining in the contest was crucial. After waiting out a 20-second ejection, he stole the ball on defense and swam up into his hole set position. From there, he took a pass from Dar and scored.

Coach Deke Rowell has been impressed with Wiener's play this season, especially with the way he filled in at hole set in Kelsch's absence.

"He's big and strong - a fighter - and makes a huge difference," Rowell said of the quiet leader. "He's driven and gives 100 percent. And after practice he's always sitting in the pool taking extra shots for a few minutes."

On the shot-stopping end of things for Los Altos is senior goalkeeper Dietrich Ho, who was so set on playing against Santa Clara that he rescheduled an airline flight. And the Eagles have to be thankful that he showed up, because he was stellar in the cage. There was an arm-flailing four-meter block, several one-on-one saves and a combination stuff and pool-length pass to Wiener for a goal.

Rowell has coached Ho since he was a "tiny little guy" of 14 years old and has molded him into an explosive, mobile goalie with cat-like reflexes. Although he's not big compared to some of the league's other netminders, the coach said Ho fills the cage with his quickness and legs rather than size.

Also giving the Eagles a boost against Santa Clara were goal-getter Andrejka and second-string defenders Lewin and Sam Bennion.

Since almost every player contributed to the big win, it left the injured Kelsch in "torture" on the sidelines because he couldn't lend a hand. "The comeback was great, but I was hurting. I tried to talk to the guys and tell them what to do better, but it hurt to even breathe," he said.

Kelsch said doctors took X-rays of his chest and he should be able to play in this week's tournament. Until he's completely healed, Kelsch might fill in at goalkeeper, a position he originally played before switching to hole set.

"(Before) being in the cage blocking shots felt good," he said. "But hole is great, because I can lead the team and try to score."

He's done that so far, and Rowell said that in their own wild way, the Eagles have accomplished their goal at this point of the season - the No. 2 seed in the division.

According to Wiener, Rowell has just as much to do with the Eagles' success as they do, adding that the former Palo Alto High and Cal-State Berkeley water polo player has faith in the team to succeed.

And the Eagles are having fun along the way as well. "We were still slapping each other 'five' the next day at school," Wiener said of the Santa Clara victory. "And people were looking at us like we were crazy."