Ripon boys fall just short against Rio Americano in water polo title game

Numbers were never a strength this season for the Ripon High School boys water polo team. The Indians’ roster of eight players allowed them only one substitute.

Remarkably, those eight players almost won a Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship.

The Indians fell just short of the title Saturday, losing a 16-15 thriller to Rio Americano that had many in the crowd talking about what an amazing game they had seen.

“It was a phenomenal game,” Ripon coach Erik Zador said. “We came into the season with the goal of getting here and we did it. Win or lose, we didn’t want the blowout. We stepped up and played a great game.”

The performance – and the season – was noteworthy for Ripon’s relatively new program, which stood in stark contrast to a perennial power like Rio Americano. While the Indians had just the one substitute, the Raiders had a bench full of players.

And things got worse, numbers-wise, early in the third quarter when Ripon freshman Ty Wells was sent out of the game for his third ejection.

Even the announcer at the Roseville Aquatics Complex seemed flabbergasted that the Indians would have to play the rest of the game with no substitutes.

Zador’s message to his players after the Indians lost Wells was simple.

“Keep fighting,” he said.

At the time, Ripon trailed 11-10 and it seemed like Rio Americano was going to pull away. But the Indians continued to fight and never got down by more than two goals.

Down 15-14 with three minutes left in the game, junior Kole Gonzalez evened things up with his fifth goal of the game.

The teams traded missed opportunities in the final minutes until Rio Americano’s Matt Dun scored the winning goal with 20 seconds left.

Zach Scudder, who scored five goals, said the Indians didn’t give up when they lost Wells in the third quarter.

“It’s crazy how well we did, especially with just eight,” said Scudder, who scored two beautiful backhanded goals in the first half.

Ripon finished 27-4. With two freshmen, two sophomores and two juniors on the roster, the future certainly looks bright for the Indians. And maybe next year, Ripon will have more players on the bench.

“We played with eight guys all season,” Zador said. “We are a good unit; we rely on each other.”

And it got the Indians all the way to the title game.

This story was originally published November 15, 2014 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Ripon boys fall just short against Rio Americano in water polo title game."