Girls’ varsity water polo: Breaking records, one save at a time
SportsSwimming, Diving & Water Polo March 2, 2020 Admin
BY KYLEIGH SPRIGLE
The water polo teams are at the beginning of their season. The girls’ team started off strong, going against their district rivals, Pines Charter and Westminster Academy, early in the season.
On Wednesday, February 19, the team lost against Pines Charter Jaguars with a final score of 7-9. However, on Thursday, February 20, the girls’ team had their second win of the season, ending with a score of 17-6.
At the beginning of the game on February 19, the Lady Cowboys had a large lead during the first two quarters. They held the Jaguars, only giving up one point. The Lady Cowboys pushed and by halftime they were up 6-1.
The second half was not favorable for Cooper City. The team lost their lead as Pines Charter kept pushing. Cooper City was able to score only once and Pines Charter scored 8 times. The game ended as a loss for CCHS with a score of 7-9.
Final Score: Cooper City 7, Pines Charter 9
In that game, goalie Melody Wood had 17 blocks. The only people to score were Kate Kaplan with five goals and Nora Mirabal with two goals.
“We are doing better than I thought we would,” Wood said. “We have a lot of new people, so I thought we were going to struggle a lot more than we are.”
The girls’ team pulled their second victory of the season against Westminster Academy on February 20. The game ended with a victory for the Cowboys and a score of 17-6. Kate Kaplan scored 6 goals, Nora Mirabal scored 5 goals, Lani Bond scored 3 times, Emily Siple scored twice and Victoria Chacon scored once.
Final Score: Cooper City 17, Westminster 6
Goalie Melody Wood shattered the previous record of saves in all of Cooper City history. Her total career save amount is at 478 saves, beating the previous overall record by four. There is more time to keep beating the record, especially since this was only their fourth game of the season.
“My freshman year, I was pushed to play goalie. [The coach] threw me in goal because I had played previously in, like, elementary school,” Wood said. “I kind of knew the sport and I was not awful so I stayed there.”
The team still has a long season ahead of them. There are around 20 people on the girl’s team and a lot of them are new.
Goalie Melody Wood shattered the previous record of saves in all of Cooper City history.
“I am very bad at water polo; however, I work very hard and get a little bit of playing time,” senior Aliyah Khan said. “This is my first year playing, but I know Cooper is a strong fighting team.”
They have a lot of practices, multiple tournaments and many games to come before playoffs.
“Both [the girls’ and boys’] teams will be successful as long as we put our minds into winning as a team rather than as individuals,” junior Bryce Pritchett said. “But we are shooting to win districts as both teams.”
Photo by Anabella Garcia
