Northwood girls water polo team 13-4 overall after second place finish at Ocean View Tournament

Northwood’s girls water polo team took second at the Ocean View Tourney.

Northwood’s girls water polo team improved its overall record to 13-4 by going 4-1 at the Ocean View Varsity Tournament Saturday.

The Timberwolves claimed second place by defeating Division 4, No. 5-ranked Sunny Hills, Mission Viejo, Division 3 Villa Park, and Division 5, No. 2-ranked Valley View.

Northwood lost to Division 3 Esperanza in the championship game Saturday.

Northwood 4, Sunny Hills 2

Senior Co-Captain Amanda Nguyen led Northwood with three goals, while junior Sarah Buting score one. Freshman goalie Sanjana Venkatesh finished with 10 saves. This was Northwood’s second win over a top ranked Division 4 CIF-SS opponent this season.

Northwood 13, Mission Viejo 5

Freshman Mia Tomovic and Junior Hannah Miller each scored four goals. Senior Amanda Nguyen scored two goals. Freshman Brooke Guan, junior Sarah Buting, and senior co-captain Anika Chaukkar each scored one goal. Defensively, Tomovic led the Timberwolves with four steals and freshman goalie Sanjana Venkatesh was unstoppable between the posts with 14 saves.

Northwood 7, Villa Park 5

Senior Amanda Nguyen led the offense with three goals and also the defense with three steals. Junior Hannah Miller scored two goals, while Freshman Mia Tomovic and Senior Adrien Lee each scored one goal. Freshman goalie Sanjana Venkatesh, had another double save effort with 11 saves.

Northwood 9, Valley View 5

Senior Amanda Nguyen led the attack with three goals. Freshman Lauren Nguyen scored two goals, while also contributing to a team high of four steals. Junior Hannah Miller scored two goals, while freshman Mia Tomovic and Senior Adrien Lee each scored one goal. Tomovic also had a team high of four steals. Freshman goalie Sanjana Venkatesh had nine saves in the win.

Esperanza 8, Northwood 0

The Timberwolves were held scoreless in the championship game but junior Sarah Buting led the defense with four steals. Freshman goalie Sanjana Venkatesh had 10 saves.

“This was a great week for the Northwood girl’s water polo team,” said Coach Kyle Kim-E. “This week provided a big confidence boost for our girls and proved that we can play with some of the best teams not only in our CIF-SS Division but strong teams within other Divisions as well.

“We are one win away from clinching a spot into the D4 CIF-SS playoffs and it feels like a dream being accomplished for this program. I’m proud of the way that the girls persevered this weekend; it isn’t easy playing three games on Saturday. They had to play Esperanza in the championship game with a one game break and they still played their hearts out. This is the same resilience and perseverance that I expect and hope will carry on into our remaining games and hopefully the playoffs.”