Northwood girls varsity water polo started their CIF run strong, dominating La Habra High School 9-3 in their first match on Feb. 5.

Both teams were scoreless through the first quarter, until the T-wolves won the swim-off, the opening sprint for the ball, and first possession, but were unable to convert it into a goal. The rest of the first quarter featured an intense exchange between the two teams, with both trading possession and blocking multiple shots.

Picking up the pace in the second quarter, attacker junior Riddhi Gautam scored the first goal of the match for Northwood. Less than a minute later, set guard senior Aanya Kumar followed up by scoring another. After a goal by La Habra, the halftime score ended at 2-1.

“We really seized every offensive opportunity,” Gautam said. “There was once where the goalie was fully out of the cage and Georgia Downs shot it from halfway across the pool and with no goalie and made it. It really helped our momentum overall.”

Northwood’s push during the second half helped win them the game, scoring first and adding three more goals, with Downs making two shots with thirty seconds left in the third quarter, taking a 6-2 lead.

Northwood closed out the game with a sequence of three goals, two from Gautam and one from Downs, and multiple blocked shots by goalkeeper junior Cassidy McCallon. Northwood countered La Habra’s attempts to break through their defense, keeping them contained throughout the entire game.

“Our win was a culmination of all our hard work throughout the season,” utility player senior Aditi Gupta said. “We just played amazing offense and it was just so clean. We were all on the same page the entire time, which led us to a lot of goals.”

Girls water polo continued their CIF streak with a 10-8 win on Feb. 10 against Los Altos, and a 6-4 victory against Notre Dame in the quarter finals on Feb. 13. Their CIF run came to an end after a 6-4 loss against San Dimas on Feb. 17 in the program’s second ever semi-finals.