After a third place win at the Los Altos tournament, the girls water polo team played against the Whittier High School Cardinals on Dec. 11 in the Downey Aquatics Center, at 3:00 p.m.
The game began as each team lined up on opposite sides of the pool, and the sprinters raced for the first possession of the ball, which went to Downey. The ball was moved around the perimeter, and Alex Pere, 10, assisted Meghan Nevarez, 12, in scoring the first goal for the Lady Vikes.
After the first goal, both teams set up in the middle of the pool with Cardinals in possession; not long after, teammate Brenda Oporto, 12, managed to take the ball from the opponent. Perez created their first counter attack of the game as well as the second goal.
“Overall, I think we are a faster team this year than we were last year,” Oporto said, “we have been conditioning mostly every day in order to have enough left in the last quarter of the game.”
The first quarter went back and forth, as both teams took too long to get the ball down to the goal. Coach Judy became frustrated as they made small mistakes that cost them free shots. The first half ended in a 4-1 in favor of Downey.
As the second half of the game began, the Lady Vikes came out with more power, not letting their guard down and trying to hold a strong defense. The gap between both teams tremendously widened. During the third quarter,Downey was up by 6 points.
“Although we won the game, we know we could have played better,” Venecia Gamboa,12, said, “our individual skills were just not what they usually are.”
Coach Judy brought in the back-up players at the beginning of the last quarter. The players proved to be just as strong as their starters. Three more goals were scored by the girls and an ejection was also reached in their favor.
“I know that although I sit in the bench, I’m just as important to the team because it’s my job to try to work the starters as much as I can during practice,so they can become better,” Sophia Paik,12, said.
As much as the Cardinals hoped and tried for a miracle, the Lady Vikes proved to be too much for them to handle. There was no weak link left behind for Downey. The Vikings ended their game with a final score of 11-9, a win that would continue the momentum of girls polo team going into their following match that would happen over the winter break, the Costa Mesa Tournament. With only a few weeks left until regular season, they are only looking to the near future without losing sight of the goal –CIF Championships.
