The women’s water polo team started the season off right with a victory over L.A. Valley on Sept. 10.

“It was a pretty exciting game,” coach Corey Stanbury said.

The game ended with 12 goals for EC versus 10 for L.A. Valley. The win was a team effort.

“A lot of girls really stepped up,” Stanbury said.

Team captain Erica Shaw scored six goals and player Katelyn Sloss scored three, making up the majority of the points. Freshmen Margaret Drischler and Chloe Rodriguez made additional goals for the team.

Another player who stepped up was Amanda Atkins, who played goalkeeper and made two steals and one save.

A struggle the team has been faced with is its lack of a goalie due to last season’s goalie, Erin Holder, transferring.

“Offensively, we did a lot of things right,” Stanbury said, and he didn’t mean just making goals.

The women fought hard for control of the ball and even harder to maintain that control.

The Warriors’ defense came out with Sloss making seven steals from L.A. Valley, and Drischler making four.

Even with giving it their all, Stanbury said that it was “really close,” and at times closer than they would like.

Also, just like any coach, Stanbury has things he knows the team needs to improve on.

“We hit the bar more than I would like,” Stanbury said, referring to the frame of the goal.

The players were satisfied with their teamwork, and happy with the results.

“Everyone really did their job and put in a really good effort,” Shaw, fashion merchandising major, said. Shaw scored the most goals in the game, but knows that one good player cannot win games alone; it takes team work.

“We have a well-rounded team,” Shaw added.

Next up is Pasadena City, which won by only one point last season in the conference game, setting the team up for a close game on Sept. 16 at 3 p.m.