Girls water polo defeats Culver

Samo’s girls water polo team crushed Culver City High School on Tuesday, Jan. 19, winning their second home game of the season with a final score of 19-3.The team took a quick lead, finishing the first quarter with a score of 3-0. Continuing their streak, Olivia Allen (’16) scored the first point of the second quarter, leaving Culver with no goals.According to head coach Matthew Flanders, much of the reason for Culver scoring so few points is the strong offense that the greenies have.“Right now, we are more focused on our strengths, rather than the weaknesses of the other team,” says Flanders. “The key to a strong defense is aggressiveness; you have to work hard all the time.”After multiple successful interceptions of the opposing team’s passes, the team still had the lead. Samo’s goalie, Amalie Solli (’17) blocked a penalty, maintaining a gap in the score (10-1) by halftime.During the second half, most of the players were rotated in, including a new goalie, Emma Ware (’18). After Samo made a penalty as the first point of the second half, Culver called a time out.With the opposing team’s weaknesses, the girls were able to spot them out and use their strengths to help them score more points.“Their goalie would constantly come out really far,” says Alyssa Hattori (’17). “When we had an opportunity, we would try to shoot over her head.”After a Culver player made a backwards shot, Ware kept an eye out, blocking it on the next attempt. However, there always is something to improve for the next game.“We’re becoming more aware on offense,” says Flanders, “but still need to work on decision-making and who to pass the ball to.”But, according to Hattori, they try not to let the game get to their heads too much.“We try not to be too serious,” says Hattori. “It knocks us off balance, so we try to be goofy.”The lady greenies managed the second win of the Ocean League season, going into the next game at Beverly undefeated.