Girls' water polo loses to El Segundo 5-4

Sam ReamerStaff WriterGirls’ water polo lost to El Segundo High School 5-4 on Tuesday, Jan. 17. The game was tied 4-4 at the end of the fourth quarter and went into four overtimes periods, two of which were sudden death periods.Senior co-captain Felle Baumgarten did not blame the team's loss on the fact that they were playing long time rival El Segundo during finals week.“We beat them at the tournament last time 7-3. I think we need to pick our heads up, and if we hadn't let it get to us, we could have stayed more emotionally stable,” Baumgarten said. “We are all strong enough to keep up with our school work and athletics at the same time."For the first two quarters, the Greenies were in control of the game. At the end of the first quarter, Samo was up 3-0 due to a goal by senior co-captain Aleya Spielman.In the third overtime, junior Jessie Espera got kicked out for overly aggressive defense, leaving the team with only five defenders. A timeout was called, and the team returned with strong defense. El Segundo forced a mediocre shot that was ultimately blocked.However, in the last 20 seconds of the fourth and final overtime quarter, Samo was not quite as lucky. When junior Dorcas Kong was kicked out for overly aggressive defense, Samo was down another player, giving El Segundo the advantage they needed to win.Senior Fiona Ventura thought the hardest part of the game was El Segundo's aggressive tendencies.“They were extremely aggressive in unnecessary ways,” Ventura said. “There were scratches, trying to break my finger and kicking; it was like they were being overly aggressive to try to get into our heads, but it didn’t work.”Assistant Coach Niall Skehan blamed the loss on the team’s offense, but still felt the Greenies played a great game.“Their defense was very good, we just came up short on our offense. We missed three five meters which was a killer — the team needs to work on their confidence,” Skehan said. “El Segundo is a really good team, their goalie played outstanding, but I think we gave them too much respect.”Baumgarten remains positive about the team's hopes of winning league.“We’re just using this as a way to realize what we need to work on," Baumgarten said. "We’re going to pick our heads up and kick butt at the Culver City game on Thursday."sreamer@thesamohi.com