The Mesa women’s water polo team led by Coach Jim Fegan, who has been named Pacific Coast Conference coach of the year seven times, has been known for winning. The Olympians defeated San Diego Miramar College 18-9 on Sept. 9.

“At times I thought we played well.” Fegan said.”Miramar’s a new program, so I expected the win.” Center Catalina Barraza led all scorers with six goals.

With the game underway, the Olympians battled it out against the Jets. The first goal of the game was scored by utility Zinnea Alexander giving the Olympians a lead of 1-0. The second and third goals were each scored by center Barraza, who is in her second year playing for Coach Fegan. Relentlessly scoring against the Jets, center Arianna Lopez helped Mesa jump out to a 5-0 lead. Then the Jets got into rhythm and put two points on the board for a score of 5-2.

During the second quarter of the game, with 4:38 remaining in the half Miramar had a penalty called on them which gave Mesa an opportunity for a shot. Driver Jackie Snyder scored the penalty goal giving Mesa a 8-3 lead over the Jets. With 2:02 left in the half, Snyder scored again giving Mesa an eight point lead over the Jets with a score of 11-3. The Olympians were on top at half-time with a score of 14-4. “I think we played very well in the first half.” Fegan said. “Most of our goals were scored on counter attacks, which I expected.”

With the second half underway, the Miramar Jets began to gain momentum with a score of four goals. However, even with those scores, the Jets trailed the Olympians by nine points. With 2:39 remaining in the third quarter, the score was 16-7. By the end of the third quarter the score was 16-9. The Jets had scored their last goal for the remainder of the game.

The Olympians were the stars of the fourth quarter. With 4:44 remaining in the game, center Barraza scored her sixth goal of the game giving Mesa an eight point lead over the Jets. The last score of the game was spiked into the goal by driver Snyder for her third goal of the game with 4:13 remaining. With no scores the rest of the quarter, the Olympians annihilated the Jets 18-9.”We have a pretty young team; the difficult thing is trying to get them to work together,” Fegan stated.

The next game for the Olympians is September 23, 2:00 PM at Southwestern College in Chula Vista.

Fegan stated, “Southwestern beat Grossmont and I was surprised, but we should do well. The team is starting to play well together and I am happy with the progress the girls have made.”