The girls water polo team overtook the Aragon Dons 14-10 in their match on Thursday night.
This game marked an important event for the class of 2026 as the team honored seniors Molly Gray, Sabine Polly, Gabby Rothstein, Isabel Habibi*, Scarlett Shenk, Lily Chesler, Caroline Connaghan, and goalkeeper Brealyn Trujillo during their senior night ceremony. Along with the seniors, Gray and Polly celebrated coach Lauren Lesyna for her final season coaching girls water polo.
“What did the senior ceremony mean to me? It was super sad. I know it’s supposed to be a celebration, but it can be a celebration and a goodbye at the same time. It was hard not to focus on the goodbye of it all, but it was an opportunity for reflection and appreciation for my beautiful team and coach,” Polly said.
The Bears opened the game with all seniors in the pool, their energy high and their confidence soaring. Aragon won the sprint and scored quickly in the first 20 seconds of the game, but Rothstein retaliated with a goal for the Bears just 15 seconds later.
The teams were evenly matched. The Dons took an early lead, scoring twice more, but the Bears held their own with Gray sinking the ball into the center of the net with 1:32 left, tying the score 3-3. The seniors dominated the pool and evened out the score with Polly planting another in the cage off the cross bar and behind the Aragon goalkeeper.
The first quarter ended with a 4-4 tie while fans roared for the senior class.
The second quarter got down to business, with the Bears’ starting line now in the pool. Trujillo controlled the cage in her typical fashion, blocking a powerful attempt by the Dons. Junior Sarah Coolican* gave M-A the lead with a goal 40 seconds into the quarter, and junior Harper Williams doubled down with a top right corner shot. The Bears were now leading 6-4 with 5:51 on the clock.
M-A had found their groove on both ends of the pool, with Shenk placing back-to-back goals, and Trujillo continuing to dominate on defense, holding off any attempts by the Dons for the rest of the quarter.
Gray extended the lead to 9-4, nailing a goal into a wide-open cage off a pass from Trujillo. Williams sank the ball off the side bar with 26 seconds on the clock, closing the half with the Bears leading 10-4.
“We started off a bit weak, but going into the second quarter, we started realizing what we needed to do better, and I think we picked up the energy,” Trujillo said.
The Bears continued their streak into the second half with even more energy than before. Rothstein scored another goal for M-A that skimmed the side bar, throwing off the Aragon goalkeeper. However, the Dons found a way to get through the Bears’ defense, scoring a point with 5:13 left in the quarter to make it 11-5.
The match remained even with multiple steals due to impressive defensive efforts. The Dons were getting desperate for a comeback, and scored their sixth goal off a five-meter penalty shot with 2:46 on the clock.
In the final seconds of the quarter, sophomore Grace Lobdell planted a buzzer beater off the cross bar and behind the goalkeeper, closing out the quarter with M-A leading 12-7.
Going into the final quarter, the Dons had newfound ambition to close the gap. Aragon began on offense and started to gain momentum after back-to-back goals in the first minute. Both teams showed intense defense throughout the quarter, but the Dons were again able to break through and score with 3:16 left.
With the Bears’ lead reduced to just two points, Williams managed to set them back on track, scoring with 2:23 on the clock. Following Williams’ momentum, Shenk scored a wide-open goal with just 49 seconds left in the game, giving M-A a 14-10 lead.
M-A stayed strong on defense, and the game concluded 14-10 in favor of the Bears.
“I think a big part of [the game] was the energy of the place. Energy and intensity are not something that should be expected at all times, but just having friends there, having my whole family there, and it being a special occasion were huge reasons for our win,” Polly said.
The Bears will take on the Sequoia Ravens away this Tuesday at 5 p.m.
*Isabel Habibi and Sarah Coolican are journalists for the M-A Chronicle.
