By Cate Meister
FVHS girls’ water polo team won their second CIF match against Cerritos High School on Thursday with a 11-3 victory. According to head coach Kyle Adama, this has been their first CIF tournament since the 2009-2010 season.
“We’ve got some pretty strong competition for the next few games here, so everything’s going to be very close from here on out. We’ve got to play our best game now,” Adama said.
Key players include seniors and co-captains Lexi Cooper and Grayce Sakamoto, sophomore Jessica Jang and junior Megan Lunquist.
The Barons kicked off their game with a goal from Cooper. Cooper then scored a second goal a few moments later after an assist from Jang.
Later in the first quarter, freshman Kalia Wesley took the ball to the goal following a turnover, bringing the score to 3-0.
An assist from Cooper gave Jang the opportunity to score the Barons their fourth goal of the game, showing the girls’ strong offensive coordination. Lundquist also made several saves as goalie throughout the quarter and junior Juli Stock also played a key role in the team’s defense.
Jang scored again at the start of the second quarter, bringing the Barons to a 5-0 lead. Following more close saves by Lundquist, Sakamoto attempted a shot on goal and sprinted for the rebound after it was blocked. She then passed to Wesley, who scored.
Following the third goal from Cooper, the team finished the first half 7-0, securing their lead for the remainder of the game.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Wesley scored another goal after an assist from sophomore Liberty Jones, who also served as the team’s sprinter for the majority of the game. Sakamoto and Cooper continued as both defensive and offensive strongholds during the third quarter.
A close shot by Cerritos brought the score to 8-1 but was quickly followed by another goal from Jang. Then, a far shot from the Dons allowed them to score again. However, Lunquist made several difficult saves throughout the quarter in spite of this.
The fourth quarter opened with minimal offensive momentum for either team. Freshman Nicole Waldschmidt helped maintain the team’s defensive pressure during the final quarter. Still, Cerritos achieved another goal, bringing the score to 9-3.
The quarter closed with a goal from Wesley and a goal from senior Katelynn Pham, finalizing the score to be 11-3.
“[The team] came out with a lot of energy before and at the beginning of the game, and they kept that going through the entire length of it,” Adama said. “They did a great job putting shots away and paying attention to their defensive jobs.”
The Barons will compete at 12 p.m. against JSerra on Saturday, Feb. 12 in CIF-SS quarterfinals at JSerra High School.
