The girls water polo team was overpowered by the Willow Glen Rams 13-6 in their match on Friday evening.
The Bears started off slow, with Willow Glen quickly gaining possession off the sprint. Despite vigorous offensive efforts from juniors Harper Williams and Sarah Coolican*, the Bears were unable to capitalize, allowing the Rams to find the back of the net within the first minute.
Possession continued to flip back and forth, with scrappy defense from both teams. Eventually, the Bears were rewarded as senior Molly Gray scored on a close shot off the crossbar, bringing the tally to 1-1.
Feeling the momentum, junior Mica Podoly executed an aggressive interception, but the Bears struggled to take advantage. Still, they refused to be rattled, with smothering defense led by sophomore goalkeeper Fiona McGaraghan, who ferociously guarded the cage. The Bears continued to have several goal attempts, but were unable to sink their shots. The Rams struggled similarly, and the quarter ended tied at 1-1.
“I feel like we’ve had so many conversations about coming out really hard in the first quarter and keeping that intensity throughout the entire game. It’s been our goal our entire season, and we just haven’t been able to follow that through well enough,” Williams said.
Kicking off the second quarter, senior Caroline Connaghan fought to win the sprint for M-A. The ball quickly returned to the hands of Willow Glen, but relentless defense by Gray allowed for a steal by senior Sabine Polly as the Bears regained possession. A shot clock violation by M-A was followed by a quick goal for the Rams to regain the lead, 2-1, with 5:53 left on the clock.
Willow Glen found space off a long throw ahead, scoring again less than a minute later for a 3-1 lead. However, several fouls by the Rams kept the ball in the Bears’ hands. Polly ducked under her defender, finding senior Isabel Habibi* cutting in for the ball. Habibi sunk a shot in the corner, reducing their deficit to 3-2 with 4:29 remaining.
McGaraghan held their ground in goal, blocking a powerful shot attempt by the Rams. Following an empty possession for the Bears, Willow Glen found a gap in the Bears’ defense to make the score 4-2 with just over three minutes left in the half.
Regaining possession, M-A looked to close their deficit. Gray swung the ball to Coolican, who found the corner of the net on a short shot, increasing their tally to 4-3. Good communication by Polly and McGaraghan fortified the Bears’ defense as they prevented the Rams from scoring. Off a blocked shot by McGaraghan, Habibi found space on a breakaway to tie the game 4-4 and force a Willow Glen timeout.
Coming out of the break, the Bears’ defense was prepared, as Podoly forced a turnover that was followed by a shot from Coolican, which was tipped and sailed just over the cage. Willow Glen hauled the ball ahead, and McGaraghan’s attempt to stop the push was unsuccessful as the Rams regained their lead with less than a minute left in the half. The Bears were unable to convert on their final possessions, ending the half trailing 5-4.
The crowd brought enthusiasm coming out of halftime, encouraging M-A as they started the third quarter. The Rams won the sprint, but suffocating defense by Williams returned possession to the Bears. McGaraghan found sophomore Grace Lobdell on a sprint ahead to even the score once again.
Even so, Willow Glen responded quickly, finding the back of the net right as the shot clock expired to bring the total to 6-5. M-A could not find an answer, as the Rams blocked multiple of their shot attempts. The Bears’ defense was unable to further hold back Willow Glen, as two more goals for the Rams pushed the score to 8-5.
Following several more empty possessions, the Bears took a timeout to regroup. With 18 seconds remaining in the quarter, Podoly swung the ball to senior Gabby Rothstein, who hammered a long shot past the Rams to end the third quarter on a high note for M-A, still trailing 8-6.
As the fourth quarter began, the Bears were eager to close in on the Rams. Unfortunately, Willow Glen was able to clinch possession, and after a critical interception, nailed another dynamic outside shot. McGaraghan, determined to push their team forward, continued to be rock solid in the goal. Even so, the Rams found a way through with a shot to the top of the goal, giving them the lead, 10-6.
“We know what we need to do, and it’s not happening,” Polly said.
The Bears took a quick timeout to reset. Immediately after, Polly made a powerful offensive attempt, but was swarmed by the Rams’ defense, who were able to regain possession and chuck a shot to the bottom of the goal.
Nearing the end of the game, the Bears were hoping to find a new surge of energy, but were met with fierce defense. The Rams were then able to score two more goals in the last few minutes, ending the match with a final score of 13-6.
“I think we could have done a lot better if we had been more communicative and put our heads down and got it done,” McGaraghan said.
“I feel like we’re a very loud team. We’re very close to each other, so we’re super talkative outside of the water, but in the water, our communication just wasn’t really there,” Williams said.
The Bears will face the Carlmont Scots away on Monday at 5 p.m.
*Isabel Habibi and Sarah Coolican are journalists for the M-A Chronicle.
