Ending the day with a thrilling match, crowds of friends and family arrived at the Arcadia High School (AHS) Aquatic Center to watch the Girls Varsity Water Polo team play against Burbank High School (BHS) on Jan. 18. In addition to being a league match, the day was also marked by Senior Night, a tournament day when the seniors of the team celebrate their last year on the team before graduation. The AHS girls secured a sweet victory of 17-9, with many highlights to remember.
Prior to the match, Coach Janice Clark gave her pre-match insights.
“I feel fairly confident about this game…Burbank doesn’t have a [junior varsity] team this year, which means they probably have less depth and have some JV-level players playing on the Varsity team this year,” said Coach Clark. “That being said, this is a league game, and I believe that we need to still just go for it.”
Burbank started the game strong, scoring the first point of the match within the first minute of play. However, AHS recovered quickly, countering by scoring three points in a row. Team Captain and senior Bella Cohen was a star player in this match, making a number of goals throughout the game.
Four years ago, as an already excellent swimmer, Cohen decided to try out water polo, and she hasn’t looked back since.
“My primary takeaway from being in water polo is how important it is to work together with your teammates and lean on them when needed,” said Cohen. “The most successful players know each other’s strengths as well as their own.”
“I feel sad [that the seniors are graduating soon] because it’s my first year [on varsity] with them, and they are leaving already,” said freshman Angelina Yuan. “They play really well and I love playing with them.”
In addition to Yuan, sophomore Mai Li also reflects on the impact that the seniors have made on the underclassmen teammates.
“At first, I was intimidated by them,” said Li. “But as I got to know them…I started to really look up to them. It makes me a little nervous that they’re leaving, because that means I need to step up next year, but seeing them [play] really inspired me to become a better player.”
By the end of the first quarter, the Apaches were up 5-2. Again, BHS made the first score of the quarter, but Arcadia quickly surged forward, scoring point after point. During the intense play, one of the Burbank players passed to their teammate, but the ball was swiftly intercepted by an Arcadia player, preventing Burbank from taking another shot at the goal.
“We had the seniors play for a substantial amount of time,” said Coach Clark. “Our two captains Lana Menck and Bella Cohen both stayed in for the whole game…they made a lot and did a great job.”
In the next two quarters, Arcadia came on even stronger, scoring goal after goal. In an epic close-range battle, Arcadia shot for the goal two times, and after being deflected both times by the Burbank goalie, the Apaches finally managed to score on the third shot, making the crowd go wild with claps and cheers.
“My favorite memories of being on the [water polo] team are probably our post-game celebrations, especially when we play a team in their home court,” said Cohen. “The bus ride back is definitely one of the most exciting places to be.”
The game was an intense and exciting match to watch, and it was a wonderful way for the seniors to spend their Senior Night celebration. Congratulations to the Girls Varsity Water Polo team for their win against BHS, as well as to the graduating seniors this year!
Photo courtesy of Arcadia DCI intern Rianna Marquez
