If you listen to El Segundo boys water polo coach George Harris, he brings a certain doomsday attitude when talking about this year's team.
El Segundo might not have the same kind of team he's had in recent years when he has made CIF finals appearances, but the Eagles are still pretty darn good, as evidenced by a 13-12 overtime victory over visiting Chadwick in a rematch of last year's CIF Division VI semifinal, also won by El Segundo by one goal.
Beau Blacksten, pictured, scored two overtime goals and finished with three overall despite two ejections in the first quarter, and Max Reynolds scored four goals for El Segundo.
"At the beginning of the year, we would not have won this game, so we're improving," Harris said. "Close games, we were losing early in the season."
Harris liked El Segundo's 13-12 nonleague victory over Chadwick because it gave the Eagles a preview of what might be to come in a Pioneer League showdown on Monday against Torrance and star Ryan McDonald.
Chadwick also has a dominating player in Kurt Buchbinder, who scored 10 goals against El Segundo.
"Monday we go against McDonald. He's the same type of player as Buchbinder," Harris said. "We can't let one player dominate like that."
Today, they let one player dominate and lived to tell about it. But the Eagles can't make that a habit.
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