All-Area Girls’ Water Polo Player of the Year: Growth, success key big season for Stern
A simple peek at the resume of La Cañada High junior goalie Carolyne Stern would suggest a polished, if almost finished product.
The youngster began her 11th-grade exploits in the summer with Team USA’s Youth Women’s National Team and just concluded a run in which she led the Spartans to a Rio Hondo League title and advancement to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs.
In between, there were plenty of saves and several clutch games.
What may have been missed, however, was a growth and development from the 6-foot-1 goalie that was equal parts patience and passion.
For her efforts, Stern was voted the All-Area Girls’ Water Polo Player of the Year by the sports writers of the La Cañada Valley Sun, Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader.
Stern is the first La Cañada player to win the award since Berit Kaesler following the 2008-09 season.
“Her accountability as an athlete really developed this year,” said La Cañada coach Ian Davidson, the All-Area Girls’ Water Polo Coach of the Year. “She first learned to be a leader by showing up. That’s step No. 1.
“She’s also the girl that’s stretching and warming up by example. She’s keeping everyone light on their toes on the day that they’re off. She’s really learning to understand the game at a deeper level.”
Stern has already enjoyed a decorated career that includes being named an All-CIF Southern Section Division II first-team selection along with being voted the Rio Hondo League Most Valuable Player this year.
Those accolades are backed by a season in which Stern tied her career-high with 227 saves and added 27 assists.
Prior to this season, she had twice been named an All-CIF and All-Area first-team choice, while winning the league’s most valuable goalkeeper honor her sophomore year after being named to the league’s first team her freshman season.
“I grew more this year than at any other year of my life,” Stern said. “A lot was expected of me and I had to be a leader and a motivator.”
Prior to the high school girls’ water polo season, Stern was turning in some of her finest work for Team USA.
The 25-girl squad that included Crescenta Valley’s Alex Garas swept through action of the UANA PanAm Youth Championships in Peru from July 1 to July 8.
The American squad finished 8-0 with Stern playing all eight contests and splitting time in six of those contests with Maya Avital.
Stern finished with 50 saves, including 10 in the July 8 final against Brazil, a 9-7 victory that secured a gold medal for her team and the top goalkeeper award for the La Cañada resident.
It would have figured that such success, along with winning a Junior Olympic Championship in August, should have segued into a fast start for Stern and the Spartans as the season kicked off Nov. 29.
Yet, the opposite was true.
La Cañada struggled during a very competitive nonleague schedule in finishing 3-5 against seven teams ranked in Division I or Division II of the Southern Section or San Diego Section.
“It was hard at first getting back into the groove of everything,” said Stern, who’s tallied 657 career saves. “We started off really slow and didn’t get back into it until the middle of the season.”
La Cañada opened with a deflating 16-5 loss to Division I No. 2-ranked Laguna Beach. After back-to-back victories, the Spartans hit a low Dec. 8 when Division I No. 6-ranked Los Alamitos humbled La Cañada, 17-6, in Villa Park Tournament action.
The goals allowed tied the most for a Stern-led squad since the goalie’s freshman year.
“The team just wasn’t prepared well to start the season,” Davidson said. “When that happens, a lot falls on the goalie who’s also seeing a lot more shots flying at her.”
That defeat was the start of a three-game losing streak in which the Spartans dropped to 2-4 and eventually 3-5 when Rio Hondo League action started Jan. 9.
“She put her head down and she broke down at the beginning,” he said. “It could have been really bad, but she found a way to get rid of the weak mental moments. She built herself back up and eliminated those breakdowns. I was really proud of that.”
A return to the Rio Hondo League schedule provided a lift for the Spartans as Stern finished with six saves in one half of work in the Spartans’ league-opening 12-6 triumph over San Marino.
La Cañada won six straight games and finished 2-2 in the tough Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions. The highlight was an impressive 4-3 win over Division II top-seeded San Clemente on Jan. 26 behind 10 saves from Stern.
“At that tournament, I saw her lock in,” Davidson said. “Sure, we lost a couple of games, but she battled. We’d go down a goal or two and she would say, ‘We’re not going down anymore.’ She stopped those runs and really helped her team refocus.”
The Spartans closed out a second straight undefeated league championship with a 12-8 victory over South Pasadena on Feb. 8 in which Stern tallied 13 saves. The victory extended the Spartans’ league winning streak to 23 games.
Ranked ninth heading into the Division II playoffs, the Spartans were one of only two area teams to earn a first-round triumph with an impressive 5-4 come-from-behind victory at Agoura on Feb. 15.
La Cañada trailed, 4-0, but leaned on Stern’s defense and 13 saves to rally for the road victory, which earned the Spartans a measure of revenge as they had lost to Agoura, 6-4, on Feb. 1.
“When you talk about mental toughness, that’s the game that stands out,” Davidson said. “From where we started the season till that moment, she was a different player. She was a definite leader.”
Stern was not shy in giving credit for her success this season.
“This year my game dramatically changed with my new coaches and they coached me better than what I previously knew,” she said. “They just helped me grow in a way I’m not sure I would have without them.”
A season’s worth of memories concluded in the quarterfinals two days later, when the Spartans fell victim to payback by top-seeded San Clemente, 11-9, at Diamond Bar High.
Stern finished with seven saves and two steals and La Cañada had twice pulled within a goal, but never pulled even.
“Carolyne is very committed to water polo and very talented with her size, but she works hard,” Spartans junior Genevieve Fraipont said. “She loves her sport and she loves her team and she carried us this year. It was an honor to play with her.”
