Girls’ water polo loses high scoring game to Mayfield

By Kevin Park

Staff Writer

Photos by Brian Kojima

The South Pasadena varsity girls’ water polo team suffered a well-fought 11-9 loss to Mayfield Senior Chicago Cubs at home on Tuesday, December 15. As the Cubs held the lead for the entire game, the Tigers take their first loss of the season, putting their record at 2-1.

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From the very beginning of the quarter, the girls were determined to strike first with aggressive offensive attacks. However, all the early attempts seemed to be only connecting with the goal post. Then after a few more missed South Pas attempts, Mayfield built up its first attack and scored, giving Mayfield the lead 1-0. This gave the Cubs the momentum, scoring off a rebound shot at goal and a wide open shot, increasing their lead to 3-0.

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Mayfield started to slowly break away with the lead in the second quarter. #13 of the Cubs scored 3 of the same goals from the same right corner, striking a bullet into the back of the net each time. Now down 6-0, the Tigers were desperate for an answer. With an answer, Freshman Jael Osborne took a well struck and accurate shot in the top left corner of the Cub’s goal and cut the deficit to 6-1.

The momentum had shifted back on the Tiger’s side. Junior Brittney Jarjour drew a penalty which freshman Sydney Shettleroe knocked in the back of the net, cutting the lead to 6-2. After the Tigers conceded another goal, sophomore Sumiko Rudinsky scored by tapping one into the goal and sophomore Hayden Carlson scored on a one-on-one with the goalie, score at 7-4. A Tiger takeover of the game in South Pasadena’s favor seemed probable, but the Cubs answered back with two of their own goals. Before the end of the third, Rudinsky raced all the way to Mayfield’s side and received a pass and spun and shoot and scored, ending the quarter at 9-5.

In the fourth quarter, Shettleroe out played the goalie on an one-on-one breakaway and cut the lead to 9-6. The Tiger’s defense slowly started to be exposed as #3 and #2 of the Cubs broke through the defense and increased their lead to 11-6. With a comeback out of reach, the Tigers scraped away the deficit failed to overcome the five-point gap in the fourth quarte. The Tigers lost 11-9 despite their final push.

“The team had a good game, even though we lacked a little confidence in the beginning. We noticed that we could not let our emotions determine the outcome of our game and because of this realization started to make a comeback,” junior Skyler Ramirez.
The Tigers will face off against Eagle Rock at home on Thursday, December 17, hoping to increase their record to 3-1.