The undefeated Los Alamitos High girls’ water polo team delivered an impressive performance during the opening day of the Villa Park Classic. The team started the day with a 15-3 victory against La Habra and then topped MLK High with a 16-4 win on Thursday, Dec. 12 at Villa Park High.
The undefeated Los Alamitos High girls’ water polo team delivered an impressive performance during the opening day of the Villa Park Classic. The team started the day with a 15-3 victory against La Habra and then topped MLK High with a 16-4 win on Thursday, Dec. 12 at Villa Park High.
The Griffins (5-0) featured two players, Karley Kraft and Ella Weber, who notched four goals against La Habra. Both players have recorded 15 scores this year.Additionally, Abbey Blake, Beca Corb, Makenna Oberst, and Sarah Selpker all finished with a pair of goals. Lauren Dvonch, Jenny Lee and Erika Pauley all ended with one score each.
Despite their production on offense, the Griffins truly shined on defense. They ran a man-to-man press that limited La Habra to just a few shots. Goalkeeper Kennedy Joseph didn’t see much action, but she still finished with five saves.
“I am happy with how the defense played,” Los Alamitos head coach Dave Carlson said. “That’s really our strength this year.”
The Griffins briefly trailed 1-0 but finished the first quarter with a 3-1 advantage. They then exploded on offense in the second quarter, outscoring the opposition 7-1 to take a 10-2 lead at the half. In the third quarter, the Griffins again notched seven points but kept La Habra off the board to own a 17-2 advantage.
Against MLK, the Griffins ended the first quarter tied at 1-1, but grabbed a 7-2 lead by the half and expanded that to 12-3 by the close of the third quarter. Six different players threw goals, with Webert producing a team-high six goals. Kraft had four scores while Corb settled for a pair.
Blake, Oberst, Pauley and Corinna Toledo each scored once. On the other end of the pool, the Griffins surrendered just one goal per quarter. Joseph once again had five saves.
“We haven’t allowed more than four goals in a game this year,” said Carlson, who has coached at the school since 1999 and previously skippered the boys’ team until resigning this year to allow Jeff Nesmith to take over the program.
Indeed, Santa Barbara and Irvine also dented the board for four goals against Los Alamitos.Los Alamitos will return to action against host Foothill in a non-league matchup on Dec. 20. That contest will start at 5:30 p.m.