Story from the Glendale News-Press
Wednesday, November 7, 2001

Hahn dominates in Nitro victory
Glendale senior has school record 14 steals and four goals in
9-4 boys' water polo wild-card win against Peninsula.
By HAMLET NALBANDYAN

PALOS VERDES -- Technically, the Glendale High boys' water polo team was considered the underdogs in Tuesday's CIF Southern Section Division III wild-card match against host Palos Verdes Peninsula.
After all, it was the Panthers that were consistently ranked in the division's top 10 throughout the season, not to mention that Peninsula had already handily beaten Glendale during their lone meeting in early October.
Tuesday's match presented the one-sidedness that the spectators at Peninsula High expected, but it was Glendale that was doing all the dominating this time around. The Nitros had no problem with the Panthers, winning 9-4, to advance to Thursday's first-round match against No. 2-seed South Pasadena. That match is at 3:15 p.m. at South Pasadena.
"This was the best we've played all year," said Glendale Coach Pat Lancaster, no stranger to postseason upsets, like the one he pulled off against last year's No. 1 seed, La Canada, in the quarterfinals.
"Just like our first CV match [a, 22-14, victory], everyone came together."
Glendale's dominating performance could be described in two words: Matt Hahn.
The 6-foot-4 senior driver was simply overpowering, be it on offense or defense.
On offense, Hahn forced Peninsula (14-11), the third-place team from the South Bay League, to drop down on hole/set every time, which opened up the offense elsewhere, creating easy goals.
And even with the Panthers heavily focusing on Hahn, he still had a match-high four goals.
But his offensive performance paled in comparison to what he did defensively. Hahn had 14 steals, breaking the school record of 12 held by him and current teammate Narbeh Amirian. Overall, Glendale (14-7), the third-place team from the Pacific League, had 27 steals and forced 29 turnovers.
For good measure, Hahn even showcased his skills in the cage. On a four-meter attempt, Lancaster took out regular goalie Jerry Sung in favor of Hahn. His move worked, as Hahn easily stopped the attempt of Peninsula's Tim Ecker.
"It was the Matt Hahn show today," said Lancaster, whose team fell to Peninsula, 11-6, on Oct. 8. "He's so big, he can do whatever he wants in the pool."
Glendale trailed, 2-1, with 58 seconds to go in the first quarter. From then on, the Nitros went on a 6-0 run, not allowing another Peninsula goal until 5:42 was left in the match.

BOX SCORE Glendale*2*3*1*3*--*9 Peninsula*2*0*0*2*--*4 GLENDALE -- Hahn 4 goals, 14 steals, Speer 3, Lee 1 and 3 assists, E. Shagoulian 1, Amirian 5 steals, Sung 3 steals. * Saves: Sung 9, Hahn 1. PENINSULA -- Dunbar 1 goal and 3 steals, Carruth 1, Shimizu 1, Di Noto 1, Vargas 3 steals. * Saves: Moser 17.