Women’s water polo strikes down St. Francis on Senior Night

By Claire Stevens,
BlueDevilHUB.com Editor–

Varsity women’s water polo defeated St. Francis on Oct. 24 in a runaway 13-1 victory. The night was also special to the team as it was senior night, a chance for the team to recognize its seniors who are playing their last season of waterpolo at Davis High.

Senior Brooke Doten, who will play at UCLA in college, started the game off with a goal in the first twelve seconds, a perfect sign of what was ahead for the Devils.

Despite the Troubadour’s best efforts, the game continued with much success for the Devils, who claimed two more goals from senior Shayna Amster and junior Joanna Hughes in the first quarter.

The second quarter continued with two goals from freshman Lindsey Taylor.

The Troubadours struggled to get shots off and again and again found themselves blocked by goalkeeper senior Emily Blackwell, who will play water polo at Stanford in college.

Blackwell managed to keep the ball out of her net the entire first half, including blocking a Troubadour penalty shot.

In the second half, the Devils racked up four more points until the Troubadours scored their first and only point of the night,  on goalkeeper Alex Harris.

Though the fate of the game was clearly decided by the fourth quarter, the Devils managed three more points, including one from Blackwell who had donned a new number and was now out of the goal.

“I felt that during the game we really worked well as a team. There were some great steals, passes, counterattacks and communication that led to our victory,” Amster said.

The night also included a ceremony for the seniors in which their teammates presented them with flowers and coach Doug Wright said a few kind words about each. In addition to Doten, Blackwell and Amster, seniors Avery Warhover, Mattie Harris, and Isabelle Terry were honored.

The Devils also presented flowers to St. Francis seniors and coaches.

Reflecting on her time playing water polo for DHS, Blackwell said, “Playing for DHS I have gained a second family.”

“I can still recall when I made my first goal in a varsity game and how proud everyone was. As the years have gone by the water polo team has felt more and more like my family” Amster said.

The senior’s teammates also decorated posters for them with their names and pictures of them all the way through childhood to now.

The Devils now move on to sections, seated first, starting Oct. 31.