The girls’ water polo vanquished the Half Moon Bay Cougars 13-4 in a dominant match on Thursday afternoon.
Heading into the game against a team new to the league, the Bears focused on shooting and defense. “We’ve definitely worked on a lot of shooting this week. We made sure to set up correctly, made sure we drive, and all the good stuff that we brought into our game today,” junior goalkeeper Brea Trujillo said.
Starting the first quarter, junior Gabby Rothstein scored the first goal, setting the tone for the Bears’ dominating performance throughout the rest of the game.
Junior Molly Gray quickly added to the score with a penalty shot, and aggressive cheers from spectators, players, and coaches gave the team a confidence boost.
Junior Sabine Polly scored a second penalty shot with 1:41 left in the quarter. Her love for the game was visible in the beaming smile across her face as she took the ball after her goal.
Ending the quarter with a punchy finish, Rothstein counted her second score of the afternoon with 1:10 left on the clock.
Swimming into the second quarter of the afternoon with a comfortable 5-0 lead, sophomore Harper Williams scored after a mere 32 seconds of play. As shouts came in from the stands, the Cougars felt the pressure from the deficit growing.
Half Moon Bay scored their first goal of the game with a forceful shot, just barely squeezing past senior goalkeeper Lexi Nelson. Feeding off the high of their first goal, Half Moon Bay began to catch up with an additional two goals, though the Bears remained comfortable with a four-point lead.
Though M-A drew an ejection with only 1:30 left in the second quarter, junior Isabel Habibi* scored in the final minute, ending the first half with a score of 8-3.
Trujillo leapt into the pool to defend the cage for the second half of the game. Following in Nelson’s footsteps, Trujillo made a powerful block from a ball entering into the right corner of the net.
Despite strong defense from the Cougars, sophomore Sarah Coolican squeezed a shot into the cage, raising their lead 10-3. “We wanted to come in with high energy, and I think our playing definitely showed our practice today,” Coolican said.
“We did a ton of drills that required us to make sure we got 10 goals in a row or, for me, blocks,” Trujillo said. Evidently the practice made perfect; Trujillo executed a save with 3:30 left on the clock.
As the clock ticked towards zero, the Cougars made valiant efforts on offense against the destructive defense of the Bears. Near the end of the third quarter, Half Moon Bay swung the ball past Trujillo and into the net, attempting to close in on the Bears’ lead.
Kicking off the final quarter, senior Zoe Gostyla sunk a shot into the cage with an assist by Habibi, elevating their lead 11-4. With a quick turnaround from Gostyla’s goal, Trujillo blocked a shot from the Cougars within the first minute.
Gostyla catapulted another shot into the net off a pass from Trujillo. Habibi then pivoted, driving her shot into the net with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. As the clock ran out, the Bears finished the game with a 13-4 victory.
The Bears triumphed over the Cougars with a monopolizing performance from all players. “We have so much more in us that we’re going to unleash, this is just the beginning, ” Pence said.
The Bears will take on the Terra Nova Tigers at home on Monday at 6:00 p.m.
*Isabel Habibi is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle.
