Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will the Serra boys’ water polo team.
Having fallen on hard times the last couple of seasons, the Padres are looking to rebuild a program that was a solid Central Coast Section contender not long ago.
While the Padres may have some talent, it is certainly young and inexperienced and it showed Wednesday as Serra was taken to task by visiting Valley Christian, 16-3.
“Considering where we are as a program, we played well,” said Serra head coach Justin Ferdinand, who added he is starting three sophomores and a freshman. “Some of the youth and inexperience makes it a bit difficult (to be successful).”
If nothing else, the Padres certainly have the right man for the rebuild job. Ferdinand took a moribund Half Moon Bay squad and turned the Cougars, first, into a CCS qualifier, and second, into a Bay Division team, leading them from the Ocean Division to the best division the Peninsula Athletic League has to offer.
But that turnaround took a few seasons on the coast and the West Catholic Athletic League is a different beast. You could see it in the opening period as the Padres looked tentative against the Warriors.
“I think when you talk about the WCAL as one of the best leagues in the state and I do think there is some of [an intimidation factor].”
But it was in those opening seven minutes that Valley Christian took control of the match. Led by utility Ryan Matarangas, the Warriors scored six unanswered goals in the first period, scoring six times on nine shots.
Matarangas opened and closed the scoring in the quarter, tallying two of his game-high eight goals. Marcus Lodewyk added five goals for the Warriors.
Serra struggled to get anything going in the opening quarter, settling for a trio of low-percentage shots from the perimeter. The Padres’ best scoring chance came at the 3-minute mark, but Luca Paganucci had his shot from the right post blocked. Alessandro Salerno, a freshman, looked to get the Padres on the board with a goal with 1:43 left in the period, but it was waved off because of a violation.
Matarangas scored two more goals to open the second period for an 8-0 lead before the Warriors sent in their second string.
That’s when the Padres finally came alive. Mike Smoot, who found the back of the net twice for Serra, had a shot deflect off the crossbar and down, but it did not cross the goal line.
But it seemed to boost the Padres. The next time down the pool, Dante Nogara finally broke the seal for Serra with a goal from the right post.
After seeing shots by Nogara and Paganucci turned aside by the Valley goaltender, the Padres got back-to-back goals. Smoot scored his first goal of the night from the left point at the 2:35 mark of the second period and Jack Nauman, off an assist from Mohamed El-Badry, burying his shot from the left post to the far right corner of the net.
To their credit, the Padres forced the Warriors to put their starters back in and they cruised the rest of the way, outscoring the Padres 8-0 over the final two periods.
“A lack of inexperience at this level, you struggle. … You get on your heels right away,” Ferdinand said. “But these guys are staying focused. It’s (time to) get back to work, keep learning and keep progressing.”