By Adam Stites
Western Sun staff writer
The Golden West College women’s water polo team kicked off the Orange Empire Conference play Wednesday, Sept. 15 with a convincing 11-4 victory over the Cypress College Chargers with a balanced offensive attack that featured scores from seven different players.
Sophomores Annika Bergesen and Hannah Bennett as well as freshmen Paige Huntley and Saibrah White, each contributed two goals to the GWC total.
“It’s always good to open with a win,” was the reaction from head coach Kyle Kopp.
Despite the strong performance, Kopp is not yet content with his team’s play and hopes to see improvement before the next conference matchup against Fullerton on Oct. 2.
“Everything we’re going to work on and build on is on the defensive side,” the coach said shortly after his team allowed four goals to Cypress.
The largest concern for the Rustlers was 13 exclusion penalties that were accumulated and gave the Chargers many offensive opportunities.
Had it not been for a strong 5-on-6 defense and tremendous play by sophomore goalie, Amy Carlson, the Chargers could have created a headache for Kopp.
The victory improved the Rustlers’ overall record at 2-2 and started their conference record to 1-0.
The loss drop the record to 5-4 and opens their conference record at 0-1. GWC is next in action against Saddleback (1-3) on Sept. 22 at Saddleback.
