Crescenta Valley girls’ water polo glides past Glendale

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Crescenta Valley High School girls water polo player #6 Alex Garas gets a clear shot on goal in game vs. Glendale High School, at home in the school’s Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Surrounded by the defense, Glendale High School girls water polo player #12 Liliya Ter-Barsegyan has a tough time getting a shot at the goal in away game vs. Crescenta Valley High School, at the Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Crescenta Valley High School girls water polo player #8 Roxy Jackson-Gain manages to get a shot on goal and score under pressure by #6 Arpa Shahbazian in game vs. Glendale High School, at home in the school’s Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Glendale High School girls water polo player #7 Jamie Fritz takes a shot on goal n away game vs. Crescenta Valley High School, at the Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Under pressure from #11 Emma Mueller, Crescenta Valley High School girls water polo player #2 Kelsey Mittelman looks to pass the ball in game vs. Glendale High School, at home in the school’s Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Glendale High School girls water polo player #10 Aleh Shahbazian finds herself alone and scores in away game vs. Crescenta Valley High School, at the Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Glendale High School girls water polo player #7 Jamie Fritz takes a shot on goal in away game vs. Crescenta Valley High School, at the Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Glendale High School girls water polo player #11 Emma Mueller takes a shot on goal in away game vs. Crescenta Valley High School, at the Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Crescenta Valley High School girls water polo goalie Allison Smith makes a save in game vs. Glendale High School, at home in the schoolâ€™s Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Crescenta Valley High School girls water polo coach Ricky Mulcahey during game vs. Glendale High School, at home in the school’s Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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Glendale High School girls water polo head coach Casey Sriptamong during away game vs. Crescenta Valley High School, at the Bird Bath in La Crescenta on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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By Charles Rich

Jan. 25, 2018 6:25 PM PT

LA CRESCENTA — Even with a relatively young team, the Crescenta Valley High girls’ water polo team isn’t showing any signs of giving up its grip on the Pacific League championship.

Playing crisp defense and flourishing on offense, the Falcons appear to have the pieces in place to win a ninth straight league title.

Crescenta Valley received six goals from Alex Garas and five from Kaitlyn Moguel to register a convincing 26-8 league victory against Glendale on Thursday at home.

“I really like the way we are playing,” Crescenta Valley coach Ricky Mulcahey said. “I think we are playing well and we are close to reaching that high point. That’s good entering the league tournament and then the CIF playoffs.

“Our players are clicking and we’re figuring out how to make the right plays. We’ll be playing in the Bonita Tournament and we’ll see some other teams in our division. Maybe we’ll see some of them in the playoffs.”

Crescenta Valley (14-1, 5-0 in league) broke away from Glendale (10-8, 2-3) in the second quarter. The Falcons, ranked eighth in CIF Southern Section Division III, held a 5-2 lead after the first quarter before scoring eight second-quarter goals to build a 13-4 halftime lead.

Garas, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Water Polo Player of the Year, had four goals in the first half to propel the Falcons.

“We played real good defense in the first half and then we then got some goals,” said Garas, a junior. “We’re still a pretty young team, but everybody is doing their job and we’re building confidence because of that.

“We’re confident with playing defense and with our shooting. We’re also communicating well.”

Garas’ fourth goal gave the Falcons a 10-3 lead with 1:41 remaining in the first half.

Moguel had four goals in the second half.

Crescenta Valley received three goals from Lexie Kawachi, two apiece from Roxy Jackson-Gain, Porsche Double, Hanna Seidfathi, Hanna Ziccardi and Kelsey Mittelman and one each from Emma Benitez and Sydney Reil.

Glendale, which entered the match having lost heartbreaking league contests against Burbank and Burroughs, played well in the first quarter before appearing to run out of steam.

The Nitros received a pair of first-quarter goals from Liliya Ter-Barsegyan

“I thought we played well in the first quarter and then we got a little tired,” Glendale coach Casey Sripramong said. “We have to keep working on playing better overall team defense.”

Glendale got two goals from Jamie Fritz and one each from Aleh Shahbazian, Emma Mueller, Arpa Shahbazian and Lili Barker. The Nitros have yielded 57 goals in their last three league matches.

charles.rich @latimes.com

Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich