Practice Makes Harvard-Westlake Near-Perfect

Sure, practices should be tougher than games. But this is ridiculous.

Two games into Mission League play and the Harvard-Westlake High girls’ water polo team has proved it is in a league of its own.

Six players scored for the Wolverines on Thursday in their 20-5 rout of La Canada at Harvard-Westlake.

The Wolverines (12-2 overall, 2-0 in league), who have won 11 consecutive games, have scored 51 goals against what is supposed to be the second- and third-best teams in the league.

Harvard-Westlake defeated Louisville, 31-2, on Tuesday.

Lately, practices are far more challenging than games for the Wolverines, who endured two weeks of grueling, high-intensity practices over the holiday break.

And given the choice, they would rather practice than run roughshod over out-manned opponents.

“We love coming to practice and getting our butts kicked by boys or whoever is brought in to play us,” said junior Courtney Quinn, who led the Wolverines with six goals.

“When we play at a lower level, it becomes frustrating.”

Hard to believe but nobody was more frustrated against La Canada than Coach Rich Corso, who said his team all but fell asleep after taking a 10-0 lead.

“They’re terrible,” said Corso of his squad. “We’re not playing well at all right now. It’s like my first five or six years coaching the boys.

“We get up on them by a bunch and then they start whistling past the graveyard and thinking we’re all that. Well, we’re not all that.”

The Wolverines, who played the toughest part of their schedule early in the season, looked like world-beaters in the first 3:33 against La Canada, racing to a 5-0 lead on the coattails of Paloma Slezack’s four steals.

La Canada (7-6, 2-1) scored its first goal on a looping, seven-meter shot by Julia Pereyra 2:37 into the second quarter. The Spartans never threatened and suffered a final insult when leading scorer Coral Cozad was ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct late in the third quarter.

Harvard-Westlake led, 13-3, at halftime, and 17-4 after three quarters, but the Wolverines clearly lacked intensity in the second half.

“We started off fine, but we got up by 10 and the ladies got lazy,” Corso said. “We’re not looking to run the score up on anyone, but they still need to play defense and take good shots.

“We’re here to teach the girls to compete and play at a high level.”

The Wolverines made 13 of 16 shots in the first half and seven of 14 in the second.

Rachel Burkons and Jeanine Jackson each scored four goals, Cami Kliner added three and Liz Blase had two.