Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy water polo cruises past Hoover

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As Hoover’s McKenna Tribble loaded up to shoot, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Bree Layseca hit her arm dislodging the ball in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Sara Khoury shoots under pressure from Hoover’s Anahit S. Mirzoyan in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Sara Khoury shoots and scores with Hoover’s Tatev Aghasyan and McKenna Tribble defending in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s head coach Carlos Ponce calls out plays to his team during a rainy game against Hoover in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hoover’s new head coach Niki De Leon talks with her team during a timeout in the game against Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hoover’s goalie Lusin Yengibaryan makes reaches to block a Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy shot in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hoover’s Inga Akopyan puts pressure on Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Abby Kim who has the ball in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hoover’s Pereni Mirzakhanian takes a shot with Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Abby Kim applying pressure in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Skylar Bower puts a lot of pressure on Hoover’s Pereni Mirzakhanian, preventing her from passing, in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s goalie Ellie Lund makes a stop against Hoover in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Amanda Ramirez shoots against Hoover’s Nareh Ghazarian in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hoover’s Mariam Manukyan shoots against Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Bree Layseca in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hoover’s Tatev Aghasyan reaches over Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Bella Gerhardt in an attempt to steal the ball in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hoover’s Denise Monzon leans to the side to shoot against Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6.z (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Bree Layseca gets a shot off against pressure from Hoover’s Inga Akopyan in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s goalie Ellie Lund makes a stop on a Hoover shot in a non-league girls’ water polo game at Hoover High School on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. FSHA won the game 13-6. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

By Charles Rich

Dec. 5, 2018 5:45 PM PT

GLENDALE — It’s not as if the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and Hoover High girls’ water polo teams are tired of playing against each other.

Flintridge Sacred Heart and Hoover got to know each other better after the teams met Wednesday in a nonleague match. It came on the heels of the Tologs and Tornadoes meeting one another again Saturday in the Burbank Tournament.

Flintridge Sacred Heart has now gotten the upper hand against Hoover in two straight contests.

Amanda Ramirez finished with four goals to lead a balanced scoring attack and spark visiting Flintridge Sacred Heart to a 13-6 win Wednesday at Hoover.

The Tologs (3-4) also got three goals apiece from Sara Khoury and Bree Layseca to turn aside the Tornadoes (2-10).

Flintridge Sacred Heart earned a 5-2 victory over Hoover on Saturday.

“We got off to a rough start to begin the season, but we started to get back on track at the Burbank Tournament and I think we are showing signs of improvement,” Ramirez said. “It’s the second time we’ve seen Hoover, so we had a good idea of what to expect.

“We had a big first half today and we did a lot of good things. We worked on a lot of things the last few days, like driving and it leading to getting off good shots.”

Flintridge Sacred Heart, which missed the playoffs last season, scored six goals in the second quarter to build a 10-2 halftime lead. Ramirez and Layseca each scored two goals in the second.

“I think playing so well throughout most of the first half set the tome for us,” Flintridge Sacred Heart coach Carlos Ponce said. “We were able to run our offense well and we made some very good passes to set up our goals.

“I think you are seeing how the players are looking for one another by making the right passes or getting something going off a counter-attack. We got some steals that led to easy goals. We still need to work a little more on our defense, but I’m happy with the improvements being made.”

Hoover, which didn’t qualify for the playoffs last season as well, opened the scoring on a goal by Tatev Aghasyan with 5:17 left in the first quarter. Flintridge Sacred Heart responded with four goals in a row, capped by a goal by Ramirez score with 1:54 to go in the stanza.

The Tologs tallied five goals late in the second quarter to pull away. Layseca closed out the first-half scoring with 1:10 remaining.

“We seem to have that one quarter that kills us and it just happened to be the second quarter today,” Hoover first-year coach Niki De Leon said. “I’ve seen our defense get better each game.

“We’re still working on improving in different areas, like getting more confident with our shooting skills.”

Flintridge Sacred Heart got two goals from Skylar Bower and one from Abby Kim.

Hoover received a team-high three goals from Aghasyan and one each from Anahit Mirzoyan, Mariam Manukyan and Inga Akopyan.

charles.rich @latimes.com

Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich