Paly Girls Waterpolo faced the Los Altos Eagles in their league home opener on Thursday, securing a 15-7 win to continue their undefeated run (4-0) and set a strong precedent for the season ahead.

Going into the game, the team was missing two starting players due to hand injuries, a challenge that required some adjustments. Despite this setback, the team maintained high energy levels, and the bench players were able to rise to the occasion and made great contributions to success.

The game started off slow in the first two quarters, something the team has been struggling with so far in the season. With the score at just 6-5 going into half, Los Altos was still in close contention.

“We always start off pretty slow, but we really had a lot of energy,” Senior Katie Spitzer said.

However, the team picked up the pace in the second half, boosting a lead over the Eagles and exhibiting great teamwork and capitalizing on every opportunity given to them. Los Altos was barely able to score any more goals in the second half.

“We had a lot of great energy that really came out hard in the 3rd and 4th quarters,” junior Grace Henderson said. “We started to pick up the intensity on defense which shut down their offense, so we just kept countering.”

After pushing through challenges and finishing strong, the team is in high spirits for the rest of the season. Going forward, the team still has goals in mind, wanting to focus on perfecting their passing and press defense.

“I think we can improve on looking for the extra pass to make the goalie flex more,” junior Mila Bynum said. “Communication is also something that we can always work on.”

Paly Girls Waterpolo will play Mountain View at home on Thursday, September 19 at 6 p.m.