Tologs bested by Sailors
LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — Three matches into the season and it’s already time to go back to the basics for the members of the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy water polo team.
From Flintridge Sacred Heart sixth-year Coach Robert Curreri’s viewpoint, that’s not necessarily a bad place to retrace the steps toward success.
“We haven’t had a lot of time to practice and we are going to need to work on our offense and conditioning,” Curreri said after the Tologs began Mission League competition Thursday afternoon with a 16-5 home loss against Marymount. “It’s about getting more experience.
“I want to get them to make the right adjustments for a game and get a little more growth from learning.”
The Tologs (0-3) saw the Sailors (5-4, 2-0 in league) start out fast. Marymount, which opened league with a victory against Louisville, scored three goals in just over five minutes to take a 3-0 lead.
After Marymount extended its lead to 4-0 early in the second quarter, the Tologs got on the board when Rebecca Armstrong scored to cut the deficit to 4-1 with 5:52 remaining in the first half.
“It’s hard when you fall behind like that,” said Curreri, whose squad finished sixth in league and didn’t qualify for the playoffs last season. “But you have to learn how to approach a game and learn to mentally be prepared.
“We have some players with experience and then there are others who have only played three games. We want to get everybody caught up and have them be on the same page.”
Marymount held an 8-1 halftime lead, capped by a goal from Kelly Royere with one second remaining.
Armstrong scored the second of her team-high three goals to cut the margin to 9-2 with 5:18 remaining in the third quarter.
After the Sailors took a 13-2 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Tologs responded with two goals 63 seconds apart. Cheri McGlynn made it 13-3 with 4:29 left and Armstrong completed her hat trick with 3:26 remaining in the match.
Hannah Walleck completed the scoring for Flintridge Sacred Heart, which will next compete in a league home match at 3 p.m. Tuesday against Louisville, with 36 seconds left.
“In the first half of league, it’s going to be about feeling the other teams out,” said Curreri, a Crescenta Valley High graduate.
Marymount received three goals apiece from Aleks Martinovic, Martine McCarthy, Taylor Bartholomew and Royere.
