Girls' water polo vs. Mira Costa

Sam ReamerStaff WriterGirls’ water polo lost to the Mira Costa Mustangs 9-4 on Fri., Jan. 27. In the first half, the Greenies were able to compete with the Mustangs. In the second half, however, the Mustangs took control of the tied 4-4 game with a vengeance.One of Samo’s more memorable moments occurred in the second quarter when junior Jessie Espera drove towards the goal. At the two meter line, Espera was grabbed by a Mira Costa player, resulting in a kick out. During the six-on-five, Espera was passed the ball and shot. The Mustang goalie blocked the ball and sent it out of bounds, giving Samo another offensive possession.The ejected Mira Costa player re-entered the game from her exclusion before the 20 seconds had elapsed, resulting in a five meter penalty shot for Samo. Senior co-captain Aleya Spielman took the five meter and scored Samo’s fourth and last goal of the game.According to Espera, Samo lost the game after they were not able to rebound after the end of the second quarter, when the Mira Costa goalie scored on senior goalie Marina Krauss from across the pool within the last seconds of the first half.“We started to lose after the full court shot. It wasn’t Marina's fault, but it brought us all down and we lost all our confidence,” Espera said. “We stopped playing as well has we had, so our defense went down and we let in really stupid goals.”Coach Matthew Flanders agreed with how the team was disheartened after the full court shot and also believed the loss had nothing to do with Mira Costas higher division.“Our divisions are totally different like apples and oranges. I thought we had a good chance. We have a good team no matter what the ranking is or what the division is," Flanders said. “After the full court shot went in at the end of the half I think we got deflated. We stopped playing defense, we got frustrated, and we weren’t shooting from outside. We played a great half of water polo, but you’ve got to play more then a half.”sreamer@thesamohi.com