On Jan. 23, 2025, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) girls water polo team celebrated a 7-5 victory over Cate School (Cate) at the Ventura Aquatic Center pool. Along with the victory, the seniors on the team, Emma Flores ‘25, Mikaela Clabaugh ‘25, Amelia Schmidt ‘25, Allie Costa-Schmitt ‘25, Lila Rosenthal ‘25 and Ariel Montejano ‘25 were all celebrated after the match to honor their time as a Dragon.
Foothill Tech started the game off strong after winning the opening sprint. Both teams traded attacks up and down the pool, most of which were unsuccessful. Finally, after the first four minutes of the game, Lauren Happle ‘26 broke the scoreless tie with a strong cross-cage shot to take a 1-0 lead.
The Dragons continued to strive on the defensive end of the pool with Larissa Myers’ ‘26 strong presence in goal. Foothill Tech held Cate to zero goals at the end of the first quarter which allowed them to retain their 1-0 lead.
After winning the second quarter sprint, the Dragons managed to get an increased amount of shots on target. Jaelissa Lozano-Rivera ‘26 scored her first of many goals to increase Foothill Tech’s lead to 2-0. Similar to the first quarter, the Dragons hounded Cate on defense and held them to another scoreless quarter.
To open the third quarter, Flores scored a goal to take a 3-0 lead. Not long after, Lozano-Rivera tallied another goal on the board off of a rebound. Later on, Cate finally got past the outstanding defense of Foothill Tech to put their first point on the board to finish the quarter 4-1.
Cate’s goal in the third quarter sparked an apparent shift in offensive momentum as they carried on to decrease the deficit. Happle started the quarter with her second goal of the game which increased the Dragons’ lead to 5-1. Cate responded to Happle’s goal with back-to-back goals of their own to bring the game to 5-3.
Lozano-Rivera responded with her fourth and final goal of the evening to extend Foothill Tech’s lead 6-3. Shortly after, Cate took a timeout in hopes to slow down the game and plan a much needed comeback. The timeout was deemed effective as they scored another set of back-to-back goals to bring the game within 6-5.
Flores commented on Cate’s brief scare in the fourth quarter, “The [fourth] quarter was especially stressful as Cate started to catch up, but I think it was the motivation we needed to give it our all.”
Despite Cate having made a near comeback, their attack came too late in the game as Foothill Tech’s defense proved to be clutch in the final minutes of the game. After a final stop, the buzzer sounded and Foothill Tech could finally celebrate their victory with photos and snacks in commemoration of the departing seniors.
“I’m definitely a little sad finishing my last water polo season. Water polo is where I met some of my closest friends and I’ve grown close with everyone on the team,” Flores said. “However, I am proud of how the team has grown during my time here and am excited to see how they improve next year.”
With the win, Foothill Tech improves to 3-0 in league play as they prepare to face off against Malibu High School (Malibu)on Jan. 23, in their home pool.
