The Paly girls’ water polo team seamlessly prolonged their winning streak, clobbering Saratoga 11-5 on Wednesday Oct. 11 in their last home game of the season and maintaining their undefeated league record.

One of the highlights of the game was the stellar performances of the three senior captains, Tanya Wilcox, Aly Mackenzie, and Natasha Whitney.

"It was great to see our seniors play so well on their senior day," head coach Theo Ludwick said. "They combined for 7 of our 11 goals and 5 of the 11 assists."

The girls asserted their domination over Saratoga early in the game, leading the scoreboard 3-0 five minutes into the first quarter. In the 6th minute, junior Hallie Kennan raised the score to 4-0 with a crucial goal that nailed the Lady Vikes’ command over their floundering rivals. However, when Saratoga swiftly intercepted the ball with 1:30 left in the quarter, Paly was left baffled and unable to form a protective blockade around its goal. A successful shot from Saratoga brought the score to 4-1 at the close of the 6th minute. With Saratoga’s sudden upturn, Paly was clearly struggling to regain control of the ball. A shot by junior Christy Campbell was thwarted by Saratoga’s goalie with 20 seconds remaining in the quarter.

"It was frustrating not to be able to shut them out from the start," Campbell, who made one steal, said.

As the second quarter opened, Saratoga won the tip-off, with an evident renewal of energy and confidence. Consecutive shots made by Campbell, junior Lizzie Abbott, and Wilcox were impeccably foiled by Saratoga’s goalie. The combination of bad passing and a weak offensive strike revealed a lack of coordination on Paly’s part. With the Vikings’ strength concentrated on the offensive front, Saratoga seized the opportunity to drive through the Lady Vikes’ line of defense, but junior goalie Talia Kori, anticipating Saratoga’s attack, was on guard and ready to avert any of Saratoga’s attempts to score. Halfway through the 3rd minute, Kori flawlessly blocked a series of shots.

"The biggest thing that we need to work on is maintaining a high level of play through four quarters," Ludwick said. "Right now, we play solid polo most of the time, great polo some of the time, and pretty lackluster polo at other times. We want to be in that solid to great range."

With Saratoga accelerating its pace, Paly decided to step up its own game. As the 4th minute began, MacKenzie got a hold of the ball and passed to Wilcox, who effortlessly slipped the ball into the back pocket of the goal, advancing the score 5-1. Three additional attempts were made by Paly in the second quarter, but each was prevented. Finally, with 17 seconds left in the quarter, and goalie Kori well ahead of the goalpost, Saratoga scored a goal and wrapped up the first half trailing Paly 5-2.

"We started out okay," Abbott, who made two assists and one steal, said, "but then we played really horribly in the middle. Towards the end, we picked it up a bit."

The game heated up during the third quarter, after Paly gained possession of the ball and held onto it. In the 2nd minute, Wilcox passed to Kennan, who led the offensive raid and scored her second goal of the game. In the 3rd minute, Wilcox again made an impressive pass to MacKenzie, who struggled at first, but then made a clear shot that flew past Saratoga’s goalie. In the 4th minute, Kennan scored her third goal, shooting the ball into the right corner of the goal, despite being hovered around. Saratoga, breaking Paly’s scoring-streak, managed to score but still trailed 8-3. In the 5th minute, however, Paly reclaimed its control of the ball, and Wilcox scored her first goal.

"We played down to them instead of making them play up to us," Wilcox said.

The game was interrupted when an injured Saratoga player angrily stormed out of the pool, crying and complaining to the referee. After the drama settled down, Whitney brought the third quarter to a close with a goal, giving the Lady Vikes a 10-3 lead.

"At the end of the second quarter, we realized that we really needed to pick it up," junior Kristin Witte, who played only in the fourth quarter, said. "So that’s what we did."

As the fourth quarter commenced, Saratoga displayed an obvious determination to turn around the score, but with fresh players in the game, Paly countered Saratoga’s every move. Two minutes into the quarter, junior Emily Kennan scored. Desperate to make a comeback, Saratoga kept the ball out of Paly’s reach, and with much persistence, scored a goal from mid-pool. But Kori was on defense mode and blocked every subsequent shot. A penalty shot was awarded to Saratoga after some foul play, and with 30 seconds left in the game, Saratoga made the point which ended the scoring.

"As a team, I thought that we played well, but that there are still areas that we can improve upon," Ludwick said. "Things are starting to gel, but we still have work to do heading into the championship season."

The girls’ next away game will be against St. Francis at 1:30 p.m. on Sat. Oct. 14.