The girls water polo team fell to the Paly Vikings 17-3 in their match on Thursday evening.
The Bears had a slow start as they regained their sea legs in their second match of the season. Paly quickly asserted dominance by getting possession of the ball after the starting sprint and scored two goals within the first minute. Movement from the Bears was consistent, but it wasn’t enough to defend against the Vikings impressive offense.
In order to regroup and focus on communication, M-A called a timeout midway through the quarter. Back on the clock, senior Isabel Habibi* attempted to score, but was unable to penetrate the cage. Paly racked up a considerable lead in the last two minutes of quarter one, scoring three more times to make it 5-0.
Despite the daunting scoreline, the Bears were determined not to give up. “As a team, we started out poorly, but we got a lot better. We still have a lot of work to do, releasing for each other and driving for each other,” senior Sabine Polly said.
Quarter two started with the Vikings in possession, and they scored a quick goal after 23 seconds. M-A was still looking for ways to get their first points on the board with confident shot attempts from junior Harper Williams, but the Vikings extended their lead with five more goals.
The score was now 10-0, and the Bears were starting to lose momentum. Paly’s goalkeeper blocked an attempt from senior Gabby Rothstein, and the Vikings went on to score another goal, achieving an 11-0 lead with two minutes left on the clock.
As the first half of the game came to an end, senior Lily Chesler went for a goal, giving it all she had to get the team’s first point of the game, but was unsuccessful.
“We had a lot of high energy. That was one of our best strengths in this game,” senior goalkeeper Brea Trujillo said.
The Bears went into halftime 11-0, hoping to cover some ground and make a comeback in the second half of the game.
Despite the Vikings’ solid momentum, M-A came back from halftime with fresh energy. Sophomore Fiona McGaraghan guarded the cage, blocking shots from the Vikings, and brought the Bears’ spirits to a new level.
The Bears found their groove with Williams scoring M-A’s first goal of the game. The score now 13-1, the Bears’ offense stayed aggressive, making way for a second goal by senior Molly Gray.
The bench did not disappoint as cheerleaders, with screams ringing out from every player. Their pep only grew when sophomore Grace Lobdell scored her first goal of her varsity career, combating intense defense from the Vikings.
McGaraghan remained a force in the cage for quarter three, blocking a powerful shot from Paly in the final seconds. The third quarter ended with the Vikings maintaining a strong 14-3 lead, but the Bears held onto their vibrant energy.
The fourth quarter began with the Vikings winning possession from the final sprint and scoring twice in the first few minutes, breaking M-A’s two-point streak from the previous quarter.
In the last few minutes of the game, Trujillo blocked multiple powerful shots, including the Vikings’ final attempt to score with only six seconds remaining.
The game came to a rough end with a final score of 17-3.
“We learned that we need to help each other more, see a lot more movement, and adapt better to corrections. But I think coming next game, we’ll really be able to improve on that,” Williams said.
The Bears will face the Gunn Titans at Gunn High School on Monday at 6:00 p.m.
*Isabel Habibi is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle
