It was the start of girls’ water polo play in the Rio Hondo League for both La Cañada and San Marino High as a young and largely inexperienced Titans squad visited the veteran and established Spartans team.
Flexing their muscles early, the host Spartans overwhelmed visiting San Marino for a 21-0 win in the league opener for both programs on Dec. 12.
“I saw some improvement, but then [La Cañada is] just a better team,” San Marino coach Mark Barr said. “There was a little more chemistry than our last game. We drew three ejections today, which we haven’t in the past, so that tells me we’re moving in the right direction, but we still have a long, long way to go.”
It was the first time La Cañada had posted a shutout this season and the first time San Marino was held scoreless.
“These kids are all returners,” La Cañada coach Gil Millanes said. “I’ve had them since they were, obviously, freshmen, and they’ve grown. They’ve put in the work during the summer. You can tell; the way they are moving the ball, their condition, the way they’re getting over their hips … We’re finally getting back to where we were last year, so we’re looking for that title again.”
The Spartans had eight different players score, and each had at least two goals. Sofia Korshakovsky led the way with a game-high four goals. Emma Hayashi, Kiley Ku and Lorelei Rocca each scored three goals. Rocca also had a game-high five steals. Kadyn Day, Supriya Uniyal, Yasmine Martinez and Lilly Perner scored two apiece.
The hosts went out to a 10-0 advantage after the opening quarter, with most of the goals coming from close range as the San Marino defense struggled to stay between the Spartans and the goal.
It started with a goal 43 seconds in by Rocca off an assist by Alexis Calix. Just 34 seconds later Day scored, assisted by Perner. Perner was next to score, putting it in from a tight angle on the left with 5:00 to go. Rocca then scored again from close range after swimming nearly the length of the pool with the ball. Ku was next, assisted by Day, with 4:07 left. Day scored her second goal, tipping the ball in after an initial save to make it 6-0 with 3:28 left.
La Cañada then went on to score four more times in the final 2:48 of the opening period, with all the goals coming from close range. Ku won the opening sprint of the second quarter and scored 15 seconds later. Korshakovsky scored the next two in a 36-second span for a 13-0 lead with 5:17 left before halftime.
With 2:23 left in the half, San Marino had its best chance to score when Olivia Deng drew a foul and earned her team a 5-meter penalty shot. Kaitlyn Pletting took the shot, but it was saved. Korshakovsky scored the final goal of the half off an assist from Perner with 2:08 left. San Marino was awarded another 5-meter shot after that, but Deng could not convert.
“[Deng] was very active today,” Barr said. “She’s starting to find her role here and find her spots to go through. I’m hoping that spreads, she gets a little more consistent driving and cutting off because she has the quickness in the half court to do it.”
Hayashi, Rocca and Uniyal each scored from close range to push the Spartans lead to 18-0 with 3:05 left. Martinez scored with four seconds left to make it 20-0 going into the final period.
La Cañada won the opening sprint of the fourth and turned that into a goal by Martinez, who capped the scoring with 6:40 to play.
First published in the Dec. 21 issue of the San Marino Tribune
