Photo gallery: Bishop’s boys water polo outlasts rival La Jolla High 12-11

The first of a two-part boys water polo drama in the local rivalry between La Jolla High School and The Bishop’s School went to the Bishop’s Knights, who edged the La Jolla Vikings 12-11 in the Knights’ home pool Sept. 30. The teams will square off again next week on Vikings territory.

In the first match, the scoring went back and forth literally until the last minute, with the winning goal coming with 28 seconds left.

The Vikings had a 7-4 lead at halftime, but the second half belonged to the Knights, who stayed persistent and took advantage of penalty shots.

Chase Landa had four goals for Bishop’s and Finn Bugelli had four for La Jolla.

“It was the exact battle we wanted,” said Bishop’s coach Doug Peabody. “It was a great game, the atmosphere was electric and both teams battled hard. For these boys to perform at the level they did was a great event for the kids and the spectators. I’m proud of them for staying together as a team and putting the effort in until the end.”

La Jolla coach Tom Atwell said: “They played tough; both sides played really well. Anytime you go into their home pool, it’s a great place but difficult. ... We were prepared for that situation.”

However, he said, “we made a couple of errors that resulted in penalty shots; that was the issue. They scored five penalty shots of the six they earned. If we had tightened up, we could have prevented a few of those.”

The two schools will play again at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, at the Coggan Family Aquatic Complex on the La Jolla High campus.

“We never take them lightly,” Bishop’s Peabody said. “And we know the next game will be at their pool. I expect it to be a down-to-the-wire game.” ◆