Girls water polo (3-0-0) lost 7-4 in its latest preseason game against Aliso Niguel High on Dec. 9 after a very heated match.

Until the third quarter, Aliso Niguel and the team battled with each other, quickly catching up with one another as the two teams scored points back and forth. In the third quarter, the girls had finally caught up to Aliso Niguel by scoring two points.

However, in the fourth quarter they fell short as they could no longer scored any more goals.

Sophomore Lauren Spear, who scored two goals in the game, reflected on the game.

“This wasn’t one of my best games, but I was just trying to keep into it, and not slow down,” Spear said. “And I was really happy when I scored a goal. It made me feel like this could get me going and not slow down.”

The spectators could detect the anxiety as the game reached its climax going into the fourth quarter. Reflecting on the game, spectator Jeff Lee shared that it was a very exciting game, as they were “tight going into the fourth period, and they fell a little short, but that’s all right since they played a good game.”

Prior to the game, coach Jared Gray mentioned that the many new members on varsity this year meant that the team was not very experienced in playing together.

“We have a lot of really good senior leaders who have a lot of great positive energy and a great ‘team first’ attitude,” Gray said.
As the team faces difficult situations, it perseveres by maintaining a positive spirit throughout games.

Reflecting on the team’s loss in the recent game against Aliso Niguel High, senior Courtney McNatt commented on the way the Aliso Niguel team played.

“Well, we played them in summer league, and you know personally…they’re really aggressive…but we definitely just try and focus on the positive things and keep going,” McNatt said.

Although the team lost this game, the members plan to practice hard, according to Gray, to achieve their goals for the season.