PASADENA — Last season, the Pasadena Poly girls' water polo team was undefeated in Prep League play, earning its first league title since 2004, and going into the second half of this season, a second consecutive title is starting to come clearly into view.
The Panthers went undefeated through their first round of Prep play and began the second half with a matchup against visiting Chadwick, who they edged by two goals on the road. Chadwick was also the last school to beat Poly, but that came in the final league game of the 2010-11 season.
“The only way that [Chadwick] had a chance to win league [was] to beat us today,” Poly Coach Ryan Katsuyama said, “so I knew they were going to come in fired up to try to pull the upset, but the way our girls started the game today I was very proud of how we attacked early.”
Poly, ranked No. 1 in CIF-Southern Section Division VI, jumped out to a big early lead and rode it the rest of the way for a 14-8 victory. This was despite losing reigning league MVP Lindsey Kelleher to a disqualification in the third period.
“Believe it or not, once Lindsey got her third ejection and was out of the game it actually seemed to put the fire back into our team,” Katsuyama said. “We stepped it up on defense and we were very opportunistic on offense.”
With the win, the Panthers have now won 19 straight Prep League games, are firmly in control of the league and have further justified their No. 1 ranking by beating the Dolphins, who came in ranked No. 4 in Division VI.
“We used to win league two or three years ago,” Chadwick Coach Will Didinger said, “and now [Poly] is taking the prominent role in league. It’s good to see. They are a good team.”
Poly (16-1, 7-0) jumped out to a decisive early advantage by scoring the first five goals of the contest in the game’s first four minutes 36 seconds. Poly junior Caroline Harvey won the initial sprint and 27 seconds later scored the first goal of the game on a shot from the left. At the 4:41 mark, Allison Woo received a pass down the middle from Lauren Lantry and used her strength to shed defenders and score. After Woo fed Kelleher for a goal, Harvey scored her second goal on a skip shot at the 3:02 mark, set up by a pass from Catherine Finney, who raced down the pool with the ball after a turnover by Chadwick (10-5, 7-2). The fifth goal came with 2:24 left on a long-distance shot by Alex Clark that deflected off the goalkeeper’s arms.
“Poly got off to a fast start, a lot of counter-attacks and early goals. That’s what I think was the key to their success,” Didinger said. “We just couldn’t slow them down.”
Chadwick’s Jenna Solberg got Chadwick on the board with two minutes left in the first period, after which Poly led 5-1. The Dolphins senior then scored in the first minute of the second quarter and the third quarter to tie for her team-high three goals.
Poly extended its lead in the second quarter on the strength of two more goals by Kelleher sandwiched around another by Woo.
Chadwick came out energized after halftime to score the first two goals and cut the deficit to three. The second came at 3:43 with a man-advantage after Kelleher’s second exclusion penalty. Kelleher, who had four goals as did Woo, answered 43 seconds later with a shot from the middle.
The score was 10-6 Poly with 1:30 left in the third quarter when Kelleher, much to her team’s surprise, was called for her third exclusion penalty, thereby disqualifying her the rest of the way.
“I told the girls right after [Kelleher’s ejection] that it’s probably the best thing for our team, to really see how you guys react to a situation like this,” Katsuyama said.
After losing Kelleher, Poly reacted with calmness and strength to score two more goals in the final minute, leading, 12-6, after three. The first came on a twisting backhand shot by Christina McCarthy that ricocheted off the Dolphins goalie’s face and into the net. The second was the second of Clark’s goals and came with .5 seconds on the clock.
The teams traded two goals apiece in the final period, as Poly salted the victory away. Both the Panthers goals came from Woo on creative shots late in the shot clock.
“We’re on to being league champs for the second time, so we’re really happy,” Woo said.
The Panthers went undefeated through their first round of Prep play and began the second half with a matchup against visiting Chadwick, who they edged by two goals on the road. Chadwick was also the last school to beat Poly, but that came in the final league game of the 2010-11 season.
“The only way that [Chadwick] had a chance to win league [was] to beat us today,” Poly Coach Ryan Katsuyama said, “so I knew they were going to come in fired up to try to pull the upset, but the way our girls started the game today I was very proud of how we attacked early.”
Poly, ranked No. 1 in CIF-Southern Section Division VI, jumped out to a big early lead and rode it the rest of the way for a 14-8 victory. This was despite losing reigning league MVP Lindsey Kelleher to a disqualification in the third period.
“Believe it or not, once Lindsey got her third ejection and was out of the game it actually seemed to put the fire back into our team,” Katsuyama said. “We stepped it up on defense and we were very opportunistic on offense.”
With the win, the Panthers have now won 19 straight Prep League games, are firmly in control of the league and have further justified their No. 1 ranking by beating the Dolphins, who came in ranked No. 4 in Division VI.
“We used to win league two or three years ago,” Chadwick Coach Will Didinger said, “and now [Poly] is taking the prominent role in league. It’s good to see. They are a good team.”
Poly (16-1, 7-0) jumped out to a decisive early advantage by scoring the first five goals of the contest in the game’s first four minutes 36 seconds. Poly junior Caroline Harvey won the initial sprint and 27 seconds later scored the first goal of the game on a shot from the left. At the 4:41 mark, Allison Woo received a pass down the middle from Lauren Lantry and used her strength to shed defenders and score. After Woo fed Kelleher for a goal, Harvey scored her second goal on a skip shot at the 3:02 mark, set up by a pass from Catherine Finney, who raced down the pool with the ball after a turnover by Chadwick (10-5, 7-2). The fifth goal came with 2:24 left on a long-distance shot by Alex Clark that deflected off the goalkeeper’s arms.
“Poly got off to a fast start, a lot of counter-attacks and early goals. That’s what I think was the key to their success,” Didinger said. “We just couldn’t slow them down.”
Chadwick’s Jenna Solberg got Chadwick on the board with two minutes left in the first period, after which Poly led 5-1. The Dolphins senior then scored in the first minute of the second quarter and the third quarter to tie for her team-high three goals.
Poly extended its lead in the second quarter on the strength of two more goals by Kelleher sandwiched around another by Woo.
Chadwick came out energized after halftime to score the first two goals and cut the deficit to three. The second came at 3:43 with a man-advantage after Kelleher’s second exclusion penalty. Kelleher, who had four goals as did Woo, answered 43 seconds later with a shot from the middle.
The score was 10-6 Poly with 1:30 left in the third quarter when Kelleher, much to her team’s surprise, was called for her third exclusion penalty, thereby disqualifying her the rest of the way.
“I told the girls right after [Kelleher’s ejection] that it’s probably the best thing for our team, to really see how you guys react to a situation like this,” Katsuyama said.
After losing Kelleher, Poly reacted with calmness and strength to score two more goals in the final minute, leading, 12-6, after three. The first came on a twisting backhand shot by Christina McCarthy that ricocheted off the Dolphins goalie’s face and into the net. The second was the second of Clark’s goals and came with .5 seconds on the clock.
The teams traded two goals apiece in the final period, as Poly salted the victory away. Both the Panthers goals came from Woo on creative shots late in the shot clock.
“We’re on to being league champs for the second time, so we’re really happy,” Woo said.
