Falcons pick up easy victory

ARCADIA — On paper, Crescenta Valley High's girls' water polo team faced its archrival, Arcadia, on the road in its Pacific League regular-season finale on Wednesday afternoon.

But in reality, the match proved to be a minor speed bump that served as a showcase of the Falcons' stifling depth and defensive play en route to an easy 16-4 win over the Apaches.

"We try to spread the wealth, we try and call it a seamless transition. That's kind of been our tradition through the year," said Loporchio, who got goals from 11 players in the lopsided win, led by daughter Stephanie Loporchio's game-high four goals. "I'll be honest, from a girls' water polo perspective, [the Falcons] just look at is as another game."

Indeed, one of the Falcons' biggest rivals has become nonleague adversary South Pasadena, which bested Crescenta Valley, 5-3, on Saturday in the finals of the Oxnard Tournament. It was the third meeting between the two teams this season, with the Falcons having won the first two.

"Even with the loss, I thought we played well," said Loporchio, whose team is ranked third in CIF Southern Section Division V, while South Pas is ranked fourth in Division III. "I think our intensity was good and our defense was very good."

Despite the loss on Saturday, Crescenta Valley (22-3, 6-0 in league) had no lingering effects on Wednesday in its more defined rivalry match, as its defense was once again "very good" in taking care of an overwhelmed Arcadia team (1-5 in league) and putting itself in prime position to repeat as league champions after winning its 14th straight league match heading into next week's league championship tournament.

Should the Falcons win in the opening round of the tournament against fourth-seeded Burbank, they will clinch no less than a share of the league crown, which is clearly the top priority on their minds.

"We win and then we have to move on and [we have] got to prepare," said Stephanie Loporchio, who also had two steals and an assist, of moving on from a relatively easy win to its most important stretch of the season. "We just have to move on from this game."