Boys Water Polo: Tony Zdanavicius, Bremen get revenge on St Rita

Updated: May 1, 2012 9:03PM

Bremen Co-op goalkeeper Tony Zdanavicius didn’t have a particularly good match when the Silver Snakes lost at St. Rita last season.

He didn’t particularly like St. Rita’s pool, either.

“Yeah, I felt it was a little more narrow,” he said. “And the floating goal isn’t exactly my favorite.”

The net behind him anchored down and comfortable in his home pool on Tuesday, Zdanavicius didn’t surrender a goal until the third period. Teammates Quinn Johnson and Kris Arnold took care of the rest as Bremen exacted revenge via a 12-9 victory.

Johnson paced the offense with five goals, while Arnold contributed five assists and several solid defensive plays as Bremen co-op improved to 14-8.

St. Rita (7-16) received two goals each from Charlie Murphy, Chuck Henrichs, Mike Hernandez and Ryan McMahon.

While Zdanavicius was busy knocking down St. Rita shots, Johnson scored twice in the first period and opened the second with another after just 15 seconds had expired.

“I just read the defense, focused on other people and got behind and put them in,” Johnson said. “They were a very physical team and they played hard. It was a good way to start.”

Attacking from the left side, Tyler Woodke went back-to-back with goals for the Braves to extend the lead to 5-0.

Zdanavicius, meanwhile, was stellar in the goal, but Arnold was just as clutch defensively, making three steals in the second period alone.

His biggest play would come much later, when after St. Rita cut an 8-2 deficit down to 10-6 and had the ball, the Salem International University-bound Arnold made a steal and passed to Dan Ramirez, who fired it into the net to give the Silver Snakes a little more breathing room.

“I just tried to find the ball. That was pretty much it,” said Arnold. “I play offensive hole most of the time, but sometimes I’ll switch to the defensive holes. It just depends on how I’m feeling on that certain drive.”

The Mustangs continued to press, and got within 11-8 on a goal by McMahon with 1:19 remaining. Bremen ended the drama when Elliot Peralta converted on a floater with 45 seconds left.

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