AHS water polo team determined to reclaim supremacy over league

By Kyle Jorrey jorrey@theacorn.com

POWER SHOT-Charger junior Meghan Corso prepares to score one of the five goals she recorded in an 11-3 win over Marmonte League rival Thousand Oaks on Tuesday at Westlake High School.

In most cases, when a high school team of 12 loses six seniors to graduation and returns just one starter, it can take time before the new group gets adjusted to one another at the beginning of the new season. It’s often difficult to win early games because the players are still gelling and the team is still seeking its identity.

Apparently, no one explained this to the Agoura girls’ water polo team.

Through eight games of the current season the new-look Chargers are a stellar 7-1, and Tuesday knocked off Div. IV’s No. 4 rated team, the Thousand Oaks Lancers, 11-3. Led by junior Stephanie Corso’s five goals, the team jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never let T.O. get comfortable, limiting the Lancer’s top-scoring threat, junior Kat Plummer, to just two goals.

AHS head coach Jason Rosenthal said he was happy to see his squad open league play with a win over a quality team like T.O.

"I knew if we played well, we would be able to control the tempo of the game, and I think we did that after the first quarter," said Rosenthal, who’s beginning his eighth season at the helm of the girls’ team. "(Thousand Oaks) is one of the better teams in this area. We just came out and did what we needed to do."

Rosenthal said his team benefited from having several different scoring threats, whereas the Lancers continually looked to Plummer, who was thoroughly defended tough from beginning to end.

"We have pretty good balance this year," the coach said. "The difference (in this game) was they have one weapon and we have three or four."

Sophomore Jillian Waldron and junior Jenna Grossman had two goals apiece for the Chargers on the day, while freshman Casey Flacks and senior Stephanie Pearce each had one.

Sophomore goalie Sara Gralitzer also figured into Agoura’s one-sided victory, blocking the majority of Lancer shot attempts. Rosenthal said he’s been impressed with how quickly Gralitzer, who made the jump from the freshman/sophomore team, has earned the respect of her teammates.

"She’s doing really well and the girls have a lot of confidence in her," Rosenthal said. "She allows us to run different defenses . . . and today, when we allowed them to shoot, she made some good saves. Sure, she makes young mistakes, but that’s going to happen with anyone. She will keep learning the position as the season goes on."

Coming off a semifinal loss to eventual champ, Santa Barbara, in last season’s Div. IV playoffs, the Chargers are again hungry to make a run for the CIF championship. But first they’ll have to reclaim the Marmonte League title, one that was taken from them for the first time in six years last season by the Royal Highlanders—a squad that figures to be the Chargers’ top competition again this year.

"The girls are definitely driven to get back to where we used to be," Rosenthal said. "They want that title back."

Following a game today against Newbury Park at NPHS, the girls’ take a short break for Christmas before resuming Jan. 4 against Royal.

Rosenthal said that despite the team’s graduation losses, the Chargers are actually progressing faster than they did last season.

"Even though we graduated almost our entire starting team, I think this group is further along now than we were at this point year," the coach said. "I just think it’s a result of the amount of time and effort they put into proving themselves in the off-season . . . this group worked really hard and it is showing."

Though they have just two seniors on the roster, Pearce and Cassie Cohen, the Chargers are playing like a team that knows its way around the pool, and they definitely showed it on Tuesday against the Lancers.

"I think the girls really look up to and respect the seniors, and they do what they are supposed to do," Rosenthal said. "But the junior class has taken it upon themselves to step up as well, and I think that has lot to do with our good start."