Credit: Darra McLintock
On Sept. 22, the Aragon varsity girls water polo team (1-0 Peninsula Athletic League)* took down Notre Dame (0-1 PAL)*, beating them 13-10.
Junior field player Angelina Tanti scored the first goal less than a minute into the match. The Dons scored three goals in the first quarter of the game and earned a 3-1 lead.
Momentum quickly shifted in the second quarter when Notre Dame put in five consecutive goals, taking the lead. At this time, head coach Kielan Crow called a time out, hoping to change things up.
“I think that timeout served as a really important time for us to just catch our breath,” said senior starting goalkeeper Grace Isola.
The Dons proceeded to prevent any further goals the rest of the quarter, leaving them down 4-6 going into the second half.
Aragon’s comeback began in the third quarter when junior field player Daryn Schell scored three goals in a row, lowering Notre Dame’s lead to one. This momentum continued into the fourth quarter, when the Dons put six more goals in, securing the win. After a constant back and forth, Aragon ultimately came out triumphant.
“I knew that we could win,” Tanti said. “It was a tough game at first [but in] the second half, we definitely had them.”
However, the team still has room for improvement.
“[Communication] is still definitely something that we deeply need to improve on, especially with this game,” Isola said. “I feel like our game against Carlmont was a much better [indication] of what we are capable of as far as teamwork.”
Crow shared his thoughts on what good teamwork looks like in water polo.
“The ability to tell each other where we need to go, what we need to do and how we need to move … [is] really critical,” Crow said.
“I think that timeout served as a really important time for us to just catch our breath”
Prior to the game, the Dons were prepared for fierce competition from Notre Dame.
“Notre Dame is definitely known for being [an] … intense and fast team,” said junior field player Galit Moff.
Because of this, in practice, the Don have been doing many pool sprints and drills to help them improve their overall fitness.
“[Especially] … with not having that many subs, we need to have high endurance,” Moff said.
Low numbers weren’t the only thing working against them in this game.
“Our offense is the … point that we really need to focus on,” Crow said. “All of our practices have been geared toward building confidence, shooting, passing and just making sure we know what our offensive setup is.”
The practice came in handy when, late in the game, the Dons put in six goals to secure the win.
“We felt the need to just take all the shots that we could,” Isola said. “We … took every opportunity we had and some of those were just because we took the chance, it happened.”
The team’s victory leaves them ready to face other opponents for the rest of the season.
“We’re playing [against] Woodside and Burlingame, which are very strong teams, so I’m worried for those but I think these two wins are really what we needed going into it,” Schell said.
The team’s next home game will be against Notre Dame on Oct. 10 at 5 p.m.
*Records as of Sept. 26
