Two years after winless season, Livingston boys water polo team rises to the top with WAC title.
Just two years ago the Livingston High boys water polo team struggled to an 0-20 season with 17 of those losses coming by 10 or more goals. Going through those struggles helped make Wednesday night so special. The Wolves defeated Johansen 19-5 to clinch the Western Athletic Conference championship as they improved to 16-3 overall and 13-0 in the WAC.
It’s Livingston’s first water polo championship since 2016 and the second in the program’s history. “It feels so great,” said Livingston coach Jose Alvarez. “These boys, they’ve really put in the work. As you could tell today, in that second half they just really picked it up.”
After trailing 2-1 at the end of the first quarter, the Wolves blitzed Johansen with four straight goals to open up the second quarter. Junior Kelvyn Edwards scored three of his 11 goals during that run to ignite Livingston’s run despite drawing double and triple teams throughout the game. Edwards set up shop at 2-meters and just overpowered the Vikings (10-15, 7-6 WAC).
“I just keep working,” said Edwards when he consistently draws double and triple teams. “If I'm getting double teamed, I try my best to hold them so my teammates will be open. I try to make sure we get the ball to the right guy.” The Wolves outscored the Vikings 13 to 2 in the second half to win going away with Edwards scoring seven goals in the third and fourth quarter.
The 11-goal performance is nothing new for the Wolves star. Edwards is leading the Sac-Joaquin Section with 137 goals this season, according to MaxPreps. Edwards received plenty of help as the Wolves moved the ball around the pool efficiently to set up their scoring opportunities with players recording assists on 19 goals. Ten different Livingston players recorded assists, led by Grant Mullen’s four assists. Aydan Ramirez six goals and six steals for the Wolves. Ramirez is currently third in the section with 81 assists on the year.
What’s been impressive about Livingston is seeing the improvement from early in the season. The Wolves are now blowing out teams that they won by one or two goals in overtime. Livingston defeated Johansen 10-9 in double overtime on Sept. 29. Less than a month later the Wolves routed the Vikings by 14 goals.
“The last time we played him we beat him in double overtime so we came in expecting this game to be a little bit tougher, but really what it came down to was our passing,” Alvarez said. “We were just so much better this time around than the last time we played them. And we utilized our wings so much more, and we fed the hole a lot more. All the mistakes we made in the first game, we polished up for this one, and it made a huge difference in the score.”
Edwards says the improvement isn’t by accident. “Ever since that first game against them, we really wanted to lock down, we’ve worked hard in practices, and we’re not messing around so much,” Edwards said. “So we’ve been really focused. We’ve rewatched that game multiple times and we’ve worked to fix everything that we did wrong.”
The reward for the Wolves players will be seeing their year added to the water polo championship banner in the gym. “It means a lot,” Edwards said. “We’ve been working really hard all offseason and during the season for that banner. To be the first team to win since 2016 is special because everyone was kind of down on water polo since our freshmen year when we didn’t win a game. A lot of us have been together since that freshman year so we’re a pretty close group.”
Boys Water Polo
Merced 17, Atwater 2 – Eli Hamm led the charge for the Bears with five goals, four assists and three steals. The top ranked team in the Sac-Joaquin Section, according to MaxPreps, improved to 24-2 overall and 8-0 in the Central California Conference with their 19th consecutive win. Reid McCall and Matthew Hamilton both added three goals for the Bears.
Girls Water Polo
Johansen 17, Livingston 8 – Natalie Perez Burciaga scored four goals and dished out three assists for the Wolves. Mariah Perez added three goals and three assists.
Merced 19, Atwater 3 – Elli Metcalf celebrated senior night with five goals, one assist and three steals to help the Bears improve to 23-2 overall and 8-0 in the CCC. Gianna Fragulia added three goals and four steals and Sarah Slocum chipped in with two goals, three assists and one steal. Eleven different players scored for Merced and goalie Audey O`Bruba finished with 12 saves.
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.