The Cathedral Catholic High School girls varsity water polo team fought hard against the The Bishop’s High School Knights Jan. 28, but came up short with a score of 3-5.

In the first period of the game, BHS scored a goal within the first minute. Motivated by a slow start, CCHS kept up a good defense until Mackenzie Davey ‘16 scored, bringing the score to 1-1. She followed that up with another goal, putting CCHS in the lead, 2-1.

CCHS continued attempting to score until the end of the first period, but BHS featured a stingy defense. At the end of the first period, CCHS was up 2-1.

CCHS continued its momentum in the second period, with a strong defense by goalie Hannah Edwards ‘17. BHS scored to even the score to 2-2 with five minutes left in the third period.

Silvia Roy ‘18 immediately followed that with a goal, putting CCHS in the lead once again 3-2.

“We had a lot of momentum going our way in the first half,” Davey said. “I was really excited to score the first two goals, especially in my first game back after missing six due to a concussion.”

In the beginning of the third period, BHS scored, squaring the game 3-3. CCHS tried to defend, but BHS scored again with 2:30 remaining. Goalie Hannah Edwards ‘17 blocked, and CCHS attempted to score with :02 remaining in the period. CCHS went into the fourth period eager to take back the lead.

Laura Larkin ‘18 took back the ball at the beginning of the fourth period, enabling Samantha Torres ‘16 to almost score. CCHS continued pushing hard, but in the final five seconds of the game, BHS scored, leading to the final score of 3-5.

The loss brought CCHS to an overall record of 7-14 and a league record of 1-3 this season. This contest was CCHS’s second game against BHS this season, and CCHS performed better this time by cutting BHS’s score in half.

“Compared to last time we played [Bishops], we really improved,” Coach Jaclyn Puccino said. “This season has been about taking it one game at a time and doing doing better each time. We just came up a bit short.”

CCHS also was at a disadvantage because center Madison Wayman ‘18 was unable to play due to a sudden illness.

“The underclassmen really stepped it up this game to make up for Madison not being here,” Carmen Vejar-Preece ‘16 said. “We’re all getting to know each other’s strengths, and I think we learned a lot this game.”

The team will continue working hard at next Wednesday’s game against Coronado High School at Coronado at 3:30 p.m.