Hamlet Nalbandyan
CRESCENTA VALLEY -- The Crescenta Valley High girls' water polo team
has an advantage in speed against nearly all of its opponents in the
Pacific League, and the Falcons used that speed to the fullest Wednesday.
CV toyed with Pasadena from the beginning on its way to a 15-4 league
victory at CV. The Falcons outshot the Bulldogs 34-16.
Seven different Falcons scored, but Megan Winchell and Jessie Stiles
had the biggest days. The sophomore Winchell had a game-high five goals
and Stiles added four.
"I think this is by far the best we've played in league so far," said
CV Coach Peter Kim. Toward the end, we made some mental mistakes but
overall, we played a solid game.
"We try to look at the opponent and try to figure out their weakness,
if there is any. Our advantage was our speed and we kept the pressure on
defensively and countered on offense."
CV's defense was stifling. Pasadena (5-10, 1-3 in league) didn't score
a goal in the second and third quarters and had just three shots on goal.
A big reason for the defensive surge was the play of goalkeeper Amy
Brunton, who had 11 saves. But Brunton wasn't alone. The Falcons
pressured the Bulldogs on defense and didn't allow Pasadena to really get
set on its offense.
"Scoring opportunities are made easier by playing hard defense, and
that was the key for us today," said Kim, whose team improved to 8-6 and
3-1 in league.
CV jumped out to a 3-0 lead, all coming withing the game's first two
minutes. It continued the pressure into the second quarter as well.
The Falcons outscored Pasadena 5-0 in the second to lead, 9-1, at
halftime. Stiles had three goals and Deborah Snyder and Winchell each had
two. Pasadena had only one shot on goal in the second, and that was by
the keeper Jaimie Polchaw at the buzzer from her own end.
In the third, Winchell added two more goals and could have had another
one, but she failed to convert on a four-meter penalty shot. Still CV,
led 12-1 entering the fourth.
The Bulldogs came alive in the fourth and had nine shots on goal,
scoring on three. They would have had more if it weren't for the play of
Brunton. She had six saves in the quarter.
CV has one more league game before the Pacific League tournament
begins. The Falcons are hoping to get a little revenge from Glendale
High. The two teams could likely face in the finals.
On Jan. 12, the Nitros defeated CV on its pool, 7-5, scoring the
game's final five goals.
"I think the girls want to face them (Glendale) more than I do.
Against Muir, we played another bad quarter, but that's an improvement
from the Glendale game where we played poorly the whole second half,"
said Kim.
"But we're on the right track because we're improving. I think we're
peaking at the right time and we'll see what happens."
