Elissa Arnold’s nine goals spark Crescenta Valley girls’ water polo past Glendale
GLENDALE — Things appear to be taking shape for the members of the Crescenta Valley High girls’ water polo team.
They’ve begun the week as the top-ranked team in the latest CIF Southern Section Division V poll and they continue to score goals at an alarming rate while racking up lopsided victories in the process.
Crescenta Valley turned to Elissa Arnold on Tuesday afternoon against host Glendale in a Pacific League match and Arnold showed she could handle the workload as she scored a game-high nine goals to lead Crescenta Valley to a 16-2 victory.
Crescenta Valley, the defending league champion, improved to 21-2, 4-0 in league.
“I think we are mentally prepared and we have an extremely deep team,” Arnold said. “We’ve been working hard at practices at 6 a.m., and the goal is to win a CIF title.”
Crescenta Valley first-year Coach Brent Danna, whose team has scored 68 goals in its last three league matches, agreed with Arnold.
“We’ve got that destination in our minds, but we are not there yet,” said Danna, who got four goals from Shannon Hovanesian. “Each day we are getting closer to that.
“This wasn’t our best game, but we stayed the course and tried to stick to the game plan. Elissa is somebody who you can rely on. When the game is on the line, you can go to her. She gets the ball and finishes.”
Hovanesian scored the first two goals of the match 26 seconds apart early in the first quarter. Katie Benson extended the lead to 3-0 with 4:50 left in first quarter before Arnold went to work.
Arnold made it 4-0 with 23 seconds to go in the first quarter before making it 5-0 with 4:58 left in the second quarter.
Glendale, which fell to 9-10, 3-2 and is ranked No. 10 in the division, got one goal apiece from Maddie Corpuz and Biyouregh Boghozian late in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 5-2. Arnold closed out the first-half scoring with a goal with 41 second left to extend the advantage to 6-2.
Glendale Coach Forest Holbrook said the Nitros were overwhelmed by the Falcons.
“CV is who we think is the No. 1 team in the division,” Holbrook said. “They are just so well-coached and disciplined.
“I was actually happy with our effort. I thought we played one of our better games. These are the kind of games in which you learn.”
Benson finished with two goals for Crescenta Valley, which got one from Lynley Fernandez.
Crescenta Valley competed without Breana Lawton (ill) and Ashley Taylor (wrist).
