After a week and a half of poor air quality preventing the varsity girls’ water polo team from practicing, they bounced back in a 7-4 win over Terra Linda this past Thursday.
Although the Trojans pounced to an early 2-1 lead, multiple goals from senior captains Caitlin Donnelly and Ashley Lamar shifted the match and put Redwood in the lead, which they held onto for the rest of the game.
With the recent fires, smoke created an environment that was unsafe for any practices or games to proceed in the week prior, Redwood only had one practice in preparation for Thursday’s game.
Ashley Lamar said that the team seemed to be a bit rusty during practice the day before, resulting in a sloppy start to the game.
“Our team has to get into a momentum of practicing very well to do well in games. How we practice is exactly how we are going to play,” Lamar said.
Regardless of the slow start, the Giants got into their groove and rallied a 5-2 lead by the end of the third quarter. Even with two Trojan goals early in the fourth, Redwood quickly responded with two goals of their own to counter Terra Linda’s attack.
Although it was clear that the team had some work to do before their next game, Caitlin Donnelly saw extreme progress within the course of the match.
“I’m happy that we were able to pick it back up, especially in the second quarter when we were able to get our thoughts together and start working on both a team offense and defense instead of as individuals,” Donnelly said.
With this win the girls’ record rises to 3-2 in MCALs with only two regular season games left.
According to coach Kirsten Frazier, this victory demonstrates that although the team wasn’t quite where they left off, time will make up for any lost progress.
“Any team sport needs cohesion so they kind of have to get that back. Yet I think towards the end of the game they were getting more connected and together, so that bodes well for our games next week and then the playoffs,” Frazier said.
Redwood plays San Rafael away next Monday, Oct. 23.
