Centaurs Water Polo Falls to El Segundo

Riding a wave of confidence after opening the season with 11 straight victories, the Culver City High School girls varsity water polo team was determined to turn the tables on Ocean League rival El Segundo in the first of two meetings Tuesday.

The Centaurs were right where they wanted to be this time - tied heading into the fourth and final period - but ultimately lost 6-4 in their home pool against an opponent that has been formidable in recent years.

"We should've won," Culver City Coach Nestor Dordoni Sr. said. "Our goalie is very good. We gave them a hard time but we lost the home advantage. It's going to be very hard to beat them there. We made a few mistakes and they scored off of them but the girls played very well."

"It was a bit frustrating with some of the mistakes that happened during the game," assistant coach Nestor Dordoni Jr. added. "I think the girls are a little better than that and should've pulled that off but I'm proud that they tried and played hard for all four quarters."

After falling behind 2-0, the Centaurs pulled to within 2-1 on a goal by Karen Duenas with 38 seconds remaining in the first period. Ruth Basurto's goal tied it 2-2 with 6:45 left in the second period, but Hallie Lindsey, who scored three times, responded with back-to-back goals--the second with three seconds left in the half--to give the visiting Eagles (13-6 overall) a 4-2 lead at intermission.

"I thought we could've done better, honestly, but El Segundo is a good team and I think we're doing way better this year than we did last year and that's something to be proud of," said Basurto, a junior. "I could've done better. Our goalie Amanda is amazing and I think we can get them back in the next game at their pool. Now we know how they play so we can practice more on our defense. And our passing was kind of off today, too."  

Despite the loss, Culver City can take a lot of positives from the experience.  

"I thought it went really well and we did a lot better than we have in the past," Lindsay Grossman said. "Underwater it was really aggressive and that probably was a factor in the outcome. Amanda did an amazing job. She's one of the best goalies I know."

Late third-period goals by Olivia Valdez and Basurto (who scored with just one second left) evened the score heading into the final seven minutes, but goals by Kelsie Wilson and Breeana Telfair put the Eagles ahead by two goals and Culver City was unable to answer. Goalie Hayden Green had 14 saves for El Segundo, which is ranked third in this week's CIF Southern Section Division 6 poll.

"It was hard and we tried our best," said Duval, who made nine of her 15 saves in the second half. "It takes a lot of training [to stay up out of the water] but you kind of get the hang of it after awhile."

Culver City travels to Torrance next before resuming Ocean League play with home games against Los Angeles Marlborough on Tuesday and Santa Monica next Thursday. Santa Monica is ranked second in Division 6.

"We didn't play as well as we normally do, but El Segundo is known for being a really good team and the fact that we only lost by two is amazing because last season we lost 13-3," said senior Martha Fisher, who didn't play Tuesday. "So this year we did a lot better."

Score by Periods

1

2

3

4

Final

El Segundo

2

0

2

6

1

2

0

4

Records: El Segundo 13-6 overall, 1-0 in league; Culver City 11-1, 0-1.