The girls water polo team celebrated their senior night for their last home game of league play, defeating the Carlmont Scots 15-5 on Wednesday night.
The Scots barely won the sprint at the start of the game, but the Bears were still able to take control as junior Scarlett Shenk threw a skip shot within the first minute.
Senior goalkeeper Lexi Nelson prevented any advances from Carlmont, consistently being halfway out of the water to save repetitive top right corner shots.
“We had this pact coming in that we were going to have the best game possible, and going in with that mentality, we didn’t have another option but to do just that,” Nelson said.
Shenk drew a five-meter, an undefended one on one shot with the goalie, after expertly turning the Scots’ set defender. Off the whistle she perfectly buried the ball into the right corner. With one second left in the first quarter, Nelson left the cage with the ball, sailing it past the Scots’ goalkeeper, putting the Bears up 5-0.
All seniors were in the pool for the second quarter, putting on an impressive show. Senior Ruby Pence won the sprint and faked out a Scots defender before passing the ball off to Shenk. The Scots were only able to get just one point.
The Bears were up 7-1 halfway through the second quarter and didn’t stop their aggressive offense there. Junior Sabine Polly passed the ball across the cage to senior EB Hoffman, who was able to hurl it past the Scots’ goalkeeper’s outstretched hands.
Polly continued to dominate the pool, swimming past the retreating Scots and swiftly placing the ball into the top right corner of the cage. The first half concluded with the Bears leading 9-1.
M-A started the third quarter with another narrowly lost sprint, but the Scots weren’t able to make any shots past Nelson. Following one of her saves, Nelson was able to spot Hoffman from across the pool and assist her to a quick goal.
The Scots were able to put in a couple shots, but all were insignificant because of the Bears’ substantial lead.
With junior goalkeeper Brealyn Trujillo now defending the cage for the final quarter, the Bears soared on offense. Several shots rebounded off the post for Shenk to quickly put into the net, and junior Gabby Rothstein handed off the ball to Polly for several more goals. Trujillo was able to keep the Scots’ score down with only one shot making it past her. M-A was dominating 13-4, and were ready to close out the quarter to victory.
With a hefty lead, the pool filled with seniors in the last 4:00 of the game. The seniors were able to put away two more goals with the help of Pence’s assists, concluding the game with a 15-5 win.
“It was really special getting to play together,” senior Claire West said.
Following the victory, the seven graduating seniors shared a special moment huddled on the side of the pool. With flowers, posters, treats, and speeches from Coach Lauren Lesyna, they all surely felt the love from not only their team, but the crowd. “It was so great to see everyone coming out and supporting us for this game,” West said.
“The atmosphere was so exciting. I’ve been to three senior nights throughout my high school career, so this being my last one is so surreal,” Nelson said.
The Bears will face the Half Moon Bay Cougars away on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.
