Sports
Wildcats Girls Water Polo Falls To Temple City
Junior Sammy Maggio scores three goals in the loss.
The Monrovia girls water polo team finished just a few goals short of a victory against Temple City in a close 8-6 game Tuesday afternoon.
The Rams won the sprint in all four quarters and were also the first to attempt a shot in the first 30 seconds of the game, but the Wildcats goalie responded with a quick block that would be the first of her 14 saves in the game. The Rams’ Caroline Gonzales was the first to score a goal in the game with an aggressive shot just outside the two-meter mark.
“I just wanted the girls to focus on playing good, fundamental water polo,” Temple City coach Linda Simons said. Temple City suffered a tough 17-2 loss to South Pasadena last week.
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The Rams game against the Wildcats proved to be a much closer and more competitive affair, and it was just a two-point game at halftime. The Rams maintained their lead into the last period while Monrovia struggled to secure the ball through Temple City’s defense.
“Temple City is an extremely aggressive team,” said Wildcats coach Armando Ruiz, who is in his second year as girls water polo head coach. “They get a lot of ejections that way. They know how to go in and draw the foul. I just told my girls not to post up too much and to call for help if they need it.”
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Although Monrovia junior Sammy Maggio was the top scorer on her team with three goals, she said she faced some personal struggles.
“My shoulders pop out of their sockets just about every time I shoot the ball,” Maggio said. “So for me it gets really tiring after a while. On a team level, I think we really struggled to protect the ball.”
Temple City’s offense was just as aggressive with Makenzie Blank scoring five goals, while teammate Stephanie Terrell ended the game with 12 blocks.
Monrovia will host the current Rio Hondo League juggernaut South Pasadena this Thursday.
“I think with hard teams, we just forget about the basics,” Maggio said. “We’re so busy worrying about everything else, and we just need to focus. You never know, good things could happen on Thursday.”
