The Mountain View Varsity Girls Water Polo team came into their game tuesday afternoon hoping to get a victory against a struggling Cupertino team, but they did much more than that. The Spartans destroyed the Pioneers in fashion with a victory of 16-0 that left a distraught Cupertino team wondering whether they were in the right league.

From the start of the game, there was no doubt who the superior team was. The first goal came within the first minute of the game as Emma Frerichs rifled a shot into the top left corner past the goalie’s outstretched arms. Teammates Marian Strong and Sam Hartman followed her lead quickly after with goals for themselves giving the Spartans a quick 3-0 lead. The onslaught continued as Sophie Brotzel stole the ball from a surprised Cupertino player leading to a breakaway in which she made a nice pass to Arlynda Huerta who buried her shot in the back of the net. After two more goals by Emma Frerichs the Spartans found themselves up 7-0. By halftime, Mountain View had tacked on 5 more points including a buzzer beating shot by Frerichs resulting in a halftime score of 12-0.

When asked how the Spartans were able to dominate as they did on the offensive end Coach Drew Enlow stated, “We were really patient, we were able to use our speed and our drives and make the pass when the girls were open. We had really strong play out of the 2 meter position which we’ve been working at in practice a lot this week and it really paid off.”

“We moved around a lot, we got open, we talked, we passed it into set.” said junior Sophie Brotzel who was recognized as a standout player along with Marian Strong after the game by Coach Enlow.

On the defensive end, the Spartans dominated as well. Cupertino suffered on offense the whole game as Mountain View’s pressing defense seemed to suffocate them. After letting in 8 goals against Monta Vista in their last game the Spartans bounced back strongly on defense, shutting out Cupertino and leaving them wondering whether they were in the right league. The Pioneers had very few chances on goal and were clearly frustrated after being able to produce next to nothing on the offense.

“We pressed really hard. We made sure they wouldn’t get any shots. We were drawing fouls and then getting our hands up to block shots” stated Brotzel.

After a morale boosting victory, the Girls Water Polo team looks to use their increased confidence against first place Harker on Thursday in a match that could boost them in league standings where they are currently in 4th place.

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