On Friday night, December 19, Carlsbad’s girl’s water polo took on Coronado High School at home for a tough fight. At their second home game, Carlsbad put up a tough fight, but it was Coronado who went home with the win in the end.

The first quarter was back and forth between the two schools, but it was Coronado who stepped up to go ahead ending the first quarter 2-4 Islanders.

Starting out the second quarter, Carlsbad picked up their defense and put away another goal. Senior goalie Savannah Manley  helped keep the score low for the Islanders by saving the shots and communicating with the Lancer defense. However, Coronado was able to rack up some more points as well, ending the first half at 3-6 Coronado.

Coming into the second half with the Lancers down, Carlsbad improved their transitions and offensive movement. After a lot of passing around, senior Tessa Greenhalgh scored the first goal of the quarter getting both teams fired up. Carlsbad managed to take a lot more shots, but struggled to finish them making the final score of the third quarter 5-8 Islanders.

With one more opportunity to go ahead, Carlsbad came out improving on their mistakes. Their shots increased, but it was a challenge to put them at the back of the net. Nearing the end of the game, the Lancers increased defensive pressure and sped up their game play while Coronado slowed the play of game to ensure possession. Their stalling mindset led the Islanders to victory over the Lancers with a final score of 9-6.

“It was a hard game,” sophomore Megan Phillips said. “We played well and overall we should be proud of what we did, especially against such a good team.”

Leaving the game, the Lancers hope to improve their game to show up at Bishops High School on Jan. 7 hope to bring home the win and improve their overall 3-1 record.

“We are going to look to improve our shooting,” Phillips said. “We’re really working our hardest at aquatics and everyday at practice so it definitely pays off.”

Though it is only the beginning of the season, the Lancer water polo team shows for a promising season and continues to work for another CIF champion title.