Falcons clicking on all cylinders
BURBANK — While the season doesn’t begin for another four-plus months, it’s the norm for the members of the Crescenta Valley High girls’ water polo team to keep things simple.
It can be making a crisp pass to picking the right time to get off an accurate shot. No matter the situation, the Falcons plan to have things down to a science so that they can possibly win another Pacific League championship and make another deep run in the playoffs.
Crescenta Valley made things look relatively easy on Friday afternoon at the Falcon Tournament at Burbank High.
Crescenta Valley received two goals apiece from Kristina Molder, Kim Fraisse and Daniella Khatchetourian to post a 12-0 win against Temple City in a pool-play match. The Falcons earlier cruised to a 16-3 pool-play victory against Louisville.
The Falcons will complete pool-play action with a match at 8:50 a.m. today against El Segundo. A Crescenta Valley victory would put it in the tournament’s championship match at 1:50 p.m.
“We are looking at keeping things simple with things like our offensive plays,” said Molder, a senior driver and returning All-Area second-team member who scored two goals a minute apart in the first quarter to give Crescenta Valley a 5-0 advantage. “We are also getting to understand each other better, and we’ve accomplished that so far.
“We have a pretty fast team and we can get a lot of counter-attacks going because of that.”
Fraisse, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Water Polo Player of the Year, scored two first-quarter goals. The senior opened the scoring at the 5:48 mark before Stefanie Loporchio made it 2-0 with 5:02 left. Fraisse then extended the lead to 3-0 on a five-meter shot with 3:15 remaining.
“I think they are playing well together,” said Loporchio, whose team advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division IV quarterfinals for the third season in a row. “I’m confident with anybody we have out there.
“We want them to try to take the pressure off each other. They are getting that. It’s a great group that’s trying together to all progress.”
The Falcons received one goal apiece in the second quarter from Sabrina Hatzer, Claire Nolan and Shannon Hovanessian to built an 8-0 halftime lead. Rachel Krebsbach and Adrienne Ingalla, both returning All-Area picks, scored once each in the third quarter to make it 10-0.
Khatchetourian capped the scoring with a pair of fourth-quarter goals.
