Girls' water polo beats Louisville 8-6

Daniel BottittaStaff WriterGirls’ water polo beat the Louisville Royals 8-6 on Wed., Nov. 28. The greenies took an early lead in the game, securing a 4-1 score by the end of second period. While the Royals came back slightly in the second half, the greenies had widened the gap too much, and won their first game of the season easily.During the fourth period, Samo was penalized for swimming over one of Louisville’s players. When the penalty shot was taken, goalie Annika Hatori ('14) blocked the ball, which took away of Louisville’s key opportunities to score.According to sprinter Raschel Alvarez-Zakson ('13), the team did well for a first game, though they have a lot of room for improvement.“We had some really great moments on offense and a few weaker moments, but our defense was awesome, at least for a first game,” Alvarez-Zakson said. “I think we held it pretty tight together, but for offense is there’s always room for improvement.”Alvarez-Zakson also felt that there were some unfair calls in the game, which differed from the usual standards of the referees.“Usually with [the game’s referee’s] I don’t have very many complaints, but today there were a couple calls I thought were a little strange,” Alvarez-Zakson said. “I got kicked out once because they said I was being overly aggressive, but I’ve played like that in front of them for three years now, and they’ve never made any calls like that.”According to Coach Matthew Flanders, the greenies did well, but they showed areas that could use growth.“For a first game, it was a good one. We’ve got a lot of work to do to be where we want to be,” Flanders said.dbottitta@thesamohi.com