SARATOGA – In a game for the record books, West Valley men's water polo scored its most goals in recorded history while taking down a previously-undefeated Cabrillo Seahawks team, 34-10.

It's the second time this season the Vikings (18-3, 5-0 Coast) have touched the single-game scoring record, taking their third game of the season 28-6 against Delta. However, this was against a Cabrillo (9-8, 2-1 Coast) team with high aspirations and a stingy defense that had allowed 20 goals only once over its last ten games.

Somewhat ironically, the Vikings started on offense by succeeding on defense. An early forced turnover led to a teardrop from Makar Salnikov over the head of the Seahawk's goalie to put the Vikings in front from the beginning. 

"We've been working a lot on defense," said head coach Willo Rodriguez. "I think our offense is powerful, has always been powerful. But it's about preventing the other team from scoring, and we've been focusing on that the last week."

The attack was relentless from the opening sprint, scoring three times in the first ninety seconds.

"I'm very happy," said Rodriguez. "Everybody got to play, and we were able to practice the things we've been working on the entire week."

Arguably the most impressive part of the Vikings' dominant performance was the depth of scoring they displayed. 12 different Vikings scored at least one goal. Salnikov, Yonatan Nadler, Peter Cohari, Csanad Varga, Jacob Rogers and Nathan Arakawa had hat tricks. Lucas Castro, coming off the bench, led all scorers with five. Mikey Rohlfing, the fan-favorite, added four of his own in the fourth quarter.

"Our lefty, Mikey, came up big today," said De Munno. "Four goals, he had a very good outing."

Rohlfing's third goal gave West Valley its 29th of the game, breaking the previous record.

"I wasn't aware, to be completely honest, that it was a record," said Rodriguez. "I think our counterattack came together today, so we were able to capitalize on the turnovers. Whenever you can capitalize and score a high percentage on your turnovers, it's very difficult to lose the game."

The counters were able to come together because of strong play from sophomore goalie Lucas Rocha Gentil. He only played the first three quarters but absolutely left his mark, plowing through traffic to stop close shots and tracking deeper attacks terrifically.

"Lucas is, in my opinion, the best goalie in California," said Rodriguez. "He's got really good instincts and he will anchor our defense all the way to the championship game. He's been doing it all year. We're very lucky to have him."