The girls varsity water polo team took the win against the Paramount Pirates, on Jan 26, at the Downey Aquatics Center. The game began at 3: 15. Each team lined up on opposite sides of the pool, and the sprinters raced for the first possession of ball, which went to Downey.
The ball was moved around the perimeter, and Meghan Nevarez assisted Alex Perez in scoring the first goal for the Lady Vikes. Both teams set up in the middle of the pool; Paramount took the ball down to set up a frontcourt offense, and soon the opposing team managed to put in the first goal. With only three minutes left in the first quarter the Pirates made an unsafe pass. The ball was stolen which gave Nevarez the right away to score. The first quarter finished with a score of 4-2 and the Lady Vikes were in the lead.
Second quarter Nevarez sprinted for the ball as a teammate trailed behind her to take the pass after Nevarez won the sprint. The ball was passed to Gaytan, but was stolen before there was opportunity to make a play. A fast break by the Pirates was shut down and they were forced to make a weak shot that the goalie easily blocked. The second quarter was a back and forth fight between both team’s. The Vikings began to pressure their opponents and the home teams defense was soon solid.
“ Before the game, coach Judy told us, that it was all going to come down to how well we played defense, and that’s what we did.” Gaytan Said “We focused on defense before offense.”
Paramount was becoming impatient and the coach called a time out to slow down Downey’s momentum. Afterwards the Pirates made a play that threw the Vikings off guard.
“We had absolutely no clue what they were doing, but we knew that it was the same thing they did last year.” Alex Perez, 9, said. “We called it the mama duckling play.
Third quarter began with Paramount working on a new play; the Pirates were relying on their goalie to make the shots. They were not protecting the ball, which cause many counter attacks from the Vikings. Downey managed to make a 5-1 lead in the third quarter. The quarter ended with a score of 11-5, Downey.
With seven minutes left to play in the game, the only thing the home team focused on was playing defense on offense and protecting the ball. The Paramount coach was yelling his guts out; it was a intimidating for everyone. Downey managed to get to 6 on 5 possessions, but their lack of patience and control of the ball made them lose both possessions.
“Many times we kind of forced a lot of shots, which made it even harder for us to score, we weren’t patient enough therefore we weren’t aware of all the open looks we had throughout the game,” Nevarez said.
In the end, the Lady Vikes shut down Paramount, leaving them at a 15-7 game. It was not the best performance the team had this year according to Coach Judy, but a win is a win.
