The San Lorenzo Valley varsity girls’ water polo team is off to a great start with four wins in the first two weeks; each player demonstrating their commitment and endurance by playing their hardest, on a team of 18 players.
Tuesday, Sept. 4, marked the first Santa Cruz Coast Athletics League (SCCAL) game against the Gilroy Mustangs at SLV. The Cougars team brought in their first wins of the season, winning 17-2.
Bailey Tregembo, who made four goals and Mikaela Slade with three, captured the leading scores of this game.
The hour-long car ride to Salinas prompted the team for their second game against the Alvarez Eagles on Tuesday, Sept. 9.
The team came out strong, finishing off the first quarter with a 4-1 lead. Their third quarter, however, placed them far ahead in scoring with 13 cumulative goals.
The two top scorers were Mikaela Slade with five goals and Hannah Kersten with three.
After winning their second game 17-5, the girls headed home undefeated with two games won.
The team’s third game was against Harbor Pirates on Monday Sept. 15, coached by former SLV player Cami Kellogg. This game came much closer with a final score of 16-12.
This was a well-fought game all the way through; both teams seemed to be fighting back-to-back. Harbor was scoring approximately three goals each quarter and SLV scored around four per quarter.
The top scorers of this game were Mikaela Slade with eight goals and senior Hannah Kersten with four.
The team then traveled down to Monterey on Tuesday afternoon to play their fourth game against the Monterey Tornados in the Santa Catalina pool. The game began at 6 p.m. and the team rushed into the start holding them to 3-0 by the first quarter.
The Cougars’ third quarter really put them in the lead, as they scored six goals, and added up to a score of 11-1.
By the end of the final quarter, SLV had driven the score up to 16; winning by 14 points and taking home another win.
Making five goals this game was Hannah Kersten and following up with three was Mikaela Slade.
Head Coach Wally Brondstatter said that the flurry of September games would be a positive experience for the girls.
“I planned a hard first month,” he said, “so we could build toward the end-of-the-season championships.”
The girls have quite a handful of games left if they hope to make it to league finals, but they seem to be on the right track having remained undefeated so far.
Up next for the Cougars is a Thursday trip to Christopher High School in Gilroy to take on the Christopher Cougars.
“The season will really be determined by what happens in this next week,” Brondstatter said.
For upcoming game information visit, http://slvsports.org/schedule/slv or http://www.mbaypreps.com for updated stats and scoring information.
(Editor’s note: Press-Banner intern Mikaela Slade is a senior at San Lorenzo Valley High School and is a member of the Cougars water polo team.)
