EL SEGUNDO HERALD February 14, 2019 Page 13
Sports from page 5
freshman with the 2016 team.
Joseph Gorte (football) may be small in
stature for a football player, but don’t let his
size fool you. He was one of the team’s top
offensive threats for two straight seasons. He
was so good that he was named the team’s
Offensive Player of the Year and won the Captain’s
Award. Joseph’s talents aren’t restricted
to the football field. His above 4.0 GPA has
landed him on the Principal’s Honor Roll. He
will be attending Kenyon College, a private
liberal arts school in Gambier, Ohio, to study
business. Joseph was proud to report that
he will be the first in his family to attend a
four-year school and that he has his father to
thank for getting him interested in football at
a young age. “I’ll always remember playing
football with my friends and my dad at the
park,” Joseph said.
Ben Peterson (basketball) is another one
of those unique individuals who puts others
before himself. On the basketball court for
the past three years, he has led the Eagles
in assists. He chose Whitman College, a
private liberal arts campus located in Walla
Walla, Washington, for its high academics
and the support from the community for
Whitman. “I fell in love with the chemistry
of the basketball program and the devotion
of the community for the team,” Ben said.
He added that his family, coaches and teammates
have had a major influence on getting
him to this point in his life. “I’ve spent the
last four years building lifelong relationships
with my teammates.”
Kaili Reitano (softball) has started for
the Eagle softball team for four years. A
two-time all-league player, she hit .412 as a
junior and .345 as a sophomore. She selected
the private liberal arts Layette College based
in Easton, Pennsylvania because she knew
instantly it was the right fit academically and
that she could make an immediate impact
on the team. She mentioned that her dad
was her biggest influence throughout her
younger days playing softball. “He coached
me through my whole journey and he helped
me through all my best and worst time,” Kaili
said. Traveling to different tournaments with
her teammates she calls lifelong friends and
playing at home under the lights are highlights
she’ll always remember.
William Schodorf (swimming) has excelled
in the pool for years. He was on the water
polo team as a freshman, but stepped away
to concentrate on swimming. His featured
event is the freestyle at any distance. He was
named the team’s MVP both his sophomore
and junior years when he was the fastest
in the Ocean League. He chose UC Santa
Barbara because of the coaching staff, a
fun and welcoming team and the ability to
swim at a Division I level. “It means that
all those early morning workouts, dedication
and sacrifices are paying off,” William said.
Alexandra Tecun (volleyball) is a threeyear
varsity volleyball player who helped
lead her team to three consecutive years
of advancing to the CIF Southern Section
playoffs. She was the captain of this past
season’s team and her play earned her
All-Ocean League honors. She will attend
Endicott College, a private school in Beverly,
Massachusetts, because of its great nursing
program. The fact that the nursing program
is flexible enough for her to continue to play
volleyball and enter an internship seemed
like the best of all worlds for Alexandra.
She pointed out that her success over the
years is because of the influence each of her
teammates had on her. “They always helped
me improve both mentally and physically,”
she said. Her fondest memory was when
she helped her team defeat Moorpark in the
CIF playoffs in front of a large crowd. “The
student section rushed the floor to help us
celebrate; it was a great feeling.”
Soccer Teams Advances
The second-seeded Eagles overwhelmed
Esperanza 7-0 in the first round of the CIF
Southern Section Division 3 playoffs. In the
first 15 minutes, the Eagles had a 3-0 lead on
Denis Vezina, Sam Twigg and Casey Lund
scores. Later in the first half, Lund drove a
header past the Esperanza goalie and Vezina
hammered another one in for a 5-0 first half
lead. Early in the second half, Vezina found
am opening and slid one in for another goal.
Calvin Liang completed the scoring on a
breakaway midway.
In the second round, the Eagles took care
of Brea Olinda 4-2. Jack Finders and Ciaran
each scored two goals while Twigg, Vezina and
Logan Pismopulous had assists. The Eagles
played host to Chaffey yesterday and a win
would push the team into Saturday’s semifinals.
Lady Eagles Continue
Their Historic Season
The Lady Eagles advanced to the CIF-SS
3A Division playoffs with their exciting 40-34
win over host Irvine. In the fourth quarter,
Storey Noble hit a three-point basket off an
Malia Hue demonstrates her passing skills against Sage Hill.
assist by Reese Jones to extend El Segundo’s
lead to 34-30. Jordan Peterson drove the lane
and scored on a layup for a 36-32 lead with
41 seconds remaining. Peterson went 4-4
from the foul line to extend the cushion to
40-32 with 22 seconds left and Irvine closed
the game with a basket for the final score.
The fifth-seeded Lady Eagles (21-8) continued
their historic season last night against
fourth-seeded Mayfair (19-4).
Girls Water Polo Loses Thriller
The fourth-seeded Eagles’ great season
came to a thrilling end in the CIF-SS Division
4 playoffs with an 8-7 loss to fifth-ranked
Sunny Hills. After defeating Downey 9-5 in
the second round, they faced a Lancers team
that had won 25 games overall and were
riding an eight-game win streak. The two
teams battled back and forth with five lead
changes and three tying scores.
Avary Torres gave her team a 2-1 lead
with a last-second goal in the first period.
Sunny Hills took advantage of an Eagle ejection
to tie the game. In the fourth quarter,
Christina Mullane scored on a penalty shot to
give the Eagles a 7-6 lead. A questionable foul
turned the ball over to the Lancers midway
through the quarter and they took advantage
moments later to tie the game. Sunny Hills
scored the eventual game-winner with 2:35
left and shut out the Eagles’ valiant comeback
attempt. •
Jack Finders gets off a shot against Esperanza.
Christina Grenke gets off a shot attempt.
Jordan Peterson had 15 points against Irvine.
Sophia Caravello makes one of her 12 saves against Sunny Hills.