Girls’ water polo demolished by Buena Bulldogs
A photo mosaic of Foothill Tech girls’ water polo players encompasses the rich history of the team and the dedication of players from earlier years. This mosaic includes photos of the team from the past seven years, and displays the amount of passion put into the program by both the former and current players.
December 3, 2022
With the sun setting in the background, players prepared to play a tough game against hometown opponents in a match between Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) and the Buena High School (Buena) girls’ water polo teams. The players warmed up while the refs corralled the game ball, getting whistles ready to start the game.
Coach Sarah Shah picks up on the energy before the game, describing it as, ¨Ready to play, ready to have fun, and make some goals.¨
The ball dropped in the water, Buena won the sprint and started with the first possession of the game.
The first period went by quickly, and Buena maintained smooth ball movement, scoring a plethora of unanswered goals to end the period up 8-0.
The second period played out similarly. Foothill Tech hoped to get some points up on the scoreboard and did so when Avery Buehner ’26 took her opportunity and scored the first goal for the team. The crowd erupted in cheers for the Dragons, but Buena managed a few more goals before the game pulled into halftime, the score showing 13-1, Buena.
When asked how the game went, Buehner stated, ¨Not our best, but everybody’s new to the sport but me, so we did the best we could.¨
The second half began, and the Dragons got few open opportunities, as the Bulldogs played tough defense. Buena scored a couple more shots, ending the period up 15-1.
The last period started in promising fashion, as Foothill Tech got the ball, sprinted through the water and got the ball to Buehner, who secured another point on the scoreboard. Minutes after, Foothill Tech kept up their momentum and got the ball to Emma Flores ‘25, resulting in another perfect goal. As the period went on, the Dragons took many shot attempts, only just missing the goal. Buena called a timeout to stall the momentum Foothill Tech held, but the Dragons came out of the timeout and got another score from Buner.
Despite the late success, the final period ended with a score of 19-4 in favor of Buena.
The Dragons will have a chance to show this growth in their next game at Channel Islands High School on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled a players’ names. This error has been corrected.
