Huntington Beach girls’ water polo celebrates seniors, tops Marina in league finale
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The Huntington Beach High girls’ water polo team has had some pool issues this season, so the Oilers had to venture crosstown to Marina to hold their senior day on Tuesday afternoon.
The majority of the seniors had not played water polo before high school, but they’ve grown a lot and proven resilient. It’s a strong senior class with seven members, which meant that coach Kelly Doherty was able to start an all-senior lineup — goalkeeper Ella Fransz, Brooke Huberman, Annaleah LaParne, Lily Franzese, Alison Tackmann, Maya Tovar and Anna Hartsell-Koivunen — for the Sunset League finale.
Huntington Beach did not disappoint, playing shut-down defense in a 14-1 win over Marina.
Franzese paced the Oilers (12-11, 3-3 in league) with six goals. Huntington Beach finished fourth in the tough league, behind champion Newport Harbor, Corona del Mar and Los Alamitos.
The Oilers had lost 11-10 to the Griffins on Monday, but had no problem rebounding a day later.
“We are a four-quarter team this year, and we have shown a lot of grit through adverse situations and adverse games,” Doherty said. “To come back and turn it around in this game, and hold it down for four quarters is really good. They do a good job of not getting defeated after tough losses. They love to bounce back and play with just enough of a chip on their shoulder.”
Huberman, Tackmann and Tovar all added a pair of goals, with sophomore Violet Ensley and freshman Lily Carlson netting one goal each. Doherty said that Ensley has been a big help with the Oilers’ set defense this season in front of Fransz, a three-year varsity starter in goal who made 12 saves.
Huntington Beach won the Downey tournament on Jan. 17 and is gearing up for the postseason. The Oilers are No. 24 in the most recent power rankings released by the CIF Southern Section, which leaves them on the border of Divisions 1 and 2.
The playoff brackets will be released Friday.
“It’s been a great four years,” Franzese said. “I think that we really showed today how much we’ve progressed from when we were freshmen. A lot of us came in as freshmen, Ella and me included, and we had never played water polo before. So, I think being out here and getting to play a game like this, to see how much we’ve done the whole season and how much we’ve grown is just amazing.”
The Oilers also have a strong sophomore class, including Ensley, Leila Tovar and emerging center Katelyn Wallace. But the senior class certainly will be missed, said Doherty, who was an assistant coach when the group came in as freshmen.
“I’ve talked to the senior class a lot about leaving a legacy behind and how they want the program to be better than what it was when they came in,” Doherty said. “I think they’re doing just that.”
Marina (14-10, 1-5 in league) finished sixth in the league and is also preparing for the postseason. Trinh Tran, a junior, helped the Vikings avoid the shutout Tuesday when she scored out of a timeout play in with 4:02 left in the fourth quarter.
Senior goalkeeper Lola Mouflin, a four-year starter, made 11 saves for Marina. On Jan. 17, Mouflin set a CIF single-game record with 38 saves as the Vikings won the silver division of the Ocean View tournament, beating Cypress 11-1 in the title match.
Marina coach Stephen Wight said he was mostly pleased with the defense Tuesday against Huntington Beach, as the Vikings held the Oilers to two goals in the first quarter and five in the first half.
“I was definitely happy with the defensive effort in the first half of the game,” Wight said. “I think we just got a little tired. It was the same thing against Edison. It was a close game for the first three quarters, but we don’t necessarily have subs right now to really get into a swim meet with a team.”
Marina freshman Lyla Kardos, who has 93 goals, will look to add to that total in CIF. Kardos is the younger sister of Lana Kardos, who was a key contributor for Marina’s CIF championship team in 2020.
The school single-season record is 103 goals.
