The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
The562’s coverage of aquatic sports in Long Beach is sponsored by the Aquatic Capital of America Foundation.
With the Moore League Girls’ Water Polo Showcase taking place on the Westside, Cabrillo was the first team in the water on Tuesday. The Westsiders took on Millikan for the first league game of the season, which resulted in the Rams topping the Jags in a 12-5 victory.
After a rough start to the season, this win was needed for Millikan. With a current record of 3-7, the Rams have been looking for something positive to build some momentum off of – and they might have found it with this comfortable win over Cabrillo.
“It’s a slow build of, ‘Where do we need to find those pieces that all come together?’” Head Coach Mike Carrillo said. “Halfway through the season, we’re finding some good parts, some good positive areas, and some good things that are coming out of the game for the team.”
Millikan freshman Mckenna Rosenberg started the game off on the right foot for the Rams with a hat trick. Kyley Seeds and Maggie Wells tacked on a pair of goals to put their squad ahead 5-0 within the first five minutes of play.
“I’m really proud of my team,” Rosenberg said. “I think that we all played hard, especially in that first quarter. It’s a team effort.”
Grace Darby and Seeds added two more goals to put Millikan in total control through the first quarter. The Rams switched out their starters and let some other players get some good minutes in the pool.
“Everyone needs to grow,” Carrillo said. “Everyone who wants to play this game, I really want them to play the game, and with having a fortunate large roster at Millikan, which is really nice to have so many girls want to play, I really want to give them all the opportunities.”
With the Rams up 7-0 and less than ten seconds on the clock, The562’s very own Flor Garibay scored the first goal for the Jags to close the first quarter 7-1.
For the rest of the game, Millikan focused on building up their attack. A lot of this was done through passing the ball around on the counter attack before going toward the goal.
“I think that passing is really helpful so that we can all be on offense and be aggressive,” Rosenberg said.
The Rams got two more goals in the second quarter while the Jags scored one to make the score 9-2 going into the second half.
A true star of the game was Cabrillo senior Aalanah Edwards, who anchored the Jags’ defense down as goalie. Edwards finished with 17 saves through all four quarters.
“She’s able to lock it down and really focus,” Head Coach Hailey Beaird said. “So on defense, she’s always paying attention, and she’s always able to get that reach in the goal, which really helps us out.”
Edwards and her defense limited the Rams to three goals in the second half, with Rosenberg getting her fourth goal in the last quarter. Beaird said her team was focused on their defensive set up this game.
“I have a lot of new girls on the team, so this is a good game just to work on our defense,” Beaird said. “We even tried something new with having all of the girls drop to the middle and then move out to their players. So, I think it was a really good experience just to get them into the swing of things.”
On the offensive side, the Jags were able to tack on three more goals in the second half, including two from Cecilia Herrera, but ultimately fell to Millikan in a 12-5 final score.
