The MI Girls Water Polo team defeated the Interlake Girls Water Polo team on March 12, with a score of 18-7.
The team excelled in stealing the ball and scoring off those opportunities throughout the game, never trailing behind Interlake. They also played quickly on offense, with junior Kiera McGuire scoring two goals in the first quarter, helping the team end the quarter with a score of 5-1.
“Personally, I’m pretty happy with how I played, it’s the first game [of the season] so obviously I have a lot to improve on, “ McGuire said. “But I think as a team, it was a good first game, but there’s still a lot more to focus on and a lot of improvement to do. For the first game of the season, I’m happy with it [the win].”
The team had much more stamina and energy on offense than Interlake, earning most of their goals during fastbreaks and 6-on-5 opportunities. They passed well, being unselfish with the ball and finding the right players to maximize their offense.
“I think our offense did really well,” senior captain Julia Sommerfield said. “We tend to have recently had a little bit of trouble with our offense, but we were really picking back up shooting the ball.”
Sommerfield played strongly, ending with over 10 blocks and passing the ball well, helping control the offense during the game.
Multiple players had an opportunity to score during the game, with McGuire scoring five goals, senior captain Elise McDonald scoring three goals, junior Kate Lennington scoring three goals and junior Greta Doroski scoring two goals as well.
“A lot of our new players had their first shots in this game, and it was really good to see that typically sometimes they don’t get that [goals] till towards the end of the season,” Sommerfield said.
Some players who were able to score at least one goal were freshman Maya Denton, freshman Grace Monroe and junior Rebecca Jack. Sarah Lowes, the head coach for the team, was generous with their playing time as the lead increased throughout the game.
The team showcased an immense amount of talent, communication and chemistry from the opening minutes to the end of the game.
“Our team has a long way to go. There was also a lot of stuff we needed to work on with this team,” Sommerfield said. “We were able to cheat in some ways that just won’t work for future games. So it’s really about making sure we are playing every game with the best rules and the best gameplan possible. I’m hoping that [this performance] will carry into further games and carry on towards state.”
