El Camino College’s women’s water polo team began its season opener with a substantial 19-10 loss against the undefeated Los Angeles Valley College Monarchs on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
The non-conference home game at the ECC Aquatics Center saw the Warriors take on the Monarchs, who were riding a 3-0 winning streak.
The Monarchs unleashed a barrage of plays that saw them score an average of four or five goals per quarter.
“I think we did a really good job of keeping going, even when we were down goals,” Warriors team attacker and co-captain Megan Perez said. “We kept playing strong and we played to the best of our abilities.”
Within two minutes and 25 seconds into the first quarter, the Monarchs’ Armine Zelveyan and Brina Brati, with assists by Alissa Wiggins and Ani Thomassian, respectively, scored two goals.
Newcomer utility player Francesca Pinillos, with assistance from utility player Alyssa Mack, scored the first goal for ECC. She later assisted attacker Olivia Mozian with a goal that saw the Warriors finish the first quarter with a score of 5-2.
Mozian scored two goals, one of which went unassisted, in the second quarter, which tightened the gap to 9-4.
While the Monarchs went for quantity in their shots, the Warriors opted for quality.
Warriors utility Lauren Reed and goalie Bobbie Waiolama made two unassisted shots in the third quarter that brought their team up to speed with 14-6.
In the final quarter, both teams released a torrent of shots that saw players chasing down the ball in a frenzy.
Monarchs’ Catalina Maldonado Lopez, with assistance from Wiggins and Zelveyan, made back-to-back shots before throwing the ball to Thomassian, who made the second-to-last goal.
Pinillios, who began the game with the Warriors’ first goal of the season, scored their last of the game.
While the Warriors are a team of 14 competing, it is an even mix of seven freshmen and seven returning sophomore players.
Meanwhile, the Monarchs were made up of an almost entirely new roster.
“We’re in a process of discovery,” Monarchs coach Pete Loporchio said, adding that while they have three returning players, 16 of the 19-strong team are freshmen.
For Warriors coach Shelby Haroldson, who is entering her sixth season coaching women’s water polo, the game would show how the mix of new and returning players could work with each other in a competitive setting.
“We’re just kind of seeing how today goes from there in terms of the rest of the season and see what we need to work on,” Haroldson said. “That way, come November when it’s conference time, we’re all dialed in and ready to go.”
The Warriors women’s water polo team will have its first conference game against the East Los Angeles Huskies at home on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 3 p.m.
