The Girls Varsity Water Polo team has been training hard to start off the 2022 winter season strong, and in this non-league game, they faced off against the Varsity Water Polo team from Temple City High School (TCHS). The game was held on Nov. 28, marking it the first game held after Thanksgiving break.

The game started off with Arcadia High School (AHS) leading the game 2-0; although by halftime, TCHS gained enough points so that they led by 5 points. The halftime score was a loss for AHS, resulting in a score of 4-9, with Temple City maintaining their five-point lead for the remaining two quarters for a final score of 9-14. Team members Liv Hernandez, Bella Cohen, Makena Guy, and Angie Ying contributed to Arcadia’s nine-point score.

“We knew the game would be a competitive one,” commented Coach Janice Clark.”

 “We were hoping to get a good non-league game to help us improve at the start of the season, and Temple City met that expectation. TCHS had a number of strong players, so we needed to drop an extra player in the center to help defend (the goal). The drop defense is something we’ve been working on, so the game gave us a good chance to put it into practice.”

The recent game served as a practice game for the Girls Varsity Water Polo team, who have recently regrouped from their Thanksgiving break and needed a game to get back into their competitive spirit. The team hopes that by working on their areas of improvement, they can re-emerge after this game as a more competitive team.

“One area we need to work on is the man-up situation,” Coach Clark further explained. “This is when the other team has a person ejected from the game for a short penalty period, and we have a 6-on-5 advantage in the pool. We did a good job in drawing those ejections on the other team, but we did not do a good job in setting up the 6-on-5 offense and scoring the advantage goals.”

Although Arcadia lost this game against Temple City, it is the first step in a long goal of attempting to finish near the top so they qualify for the League Championships. 

“We have some work to do before we get to our league matches, but we have good talent and potential,” said Coach Clark. “We will continue to work on melding our individual skills into cohesive teamwork. Our goals for the winter season include competing well against other Division 4 teams in upcoming tournaments, finishing in the top half of Pacific League, and making the CIF playoffs.”

We wish the Girls Varsity Water Polo team well with their future games. Go Apaches!