On Mar. 11, New Trier’s girls’ water polo team proved their strength by overcoming a 4-1 deficit in their first game of the invite against Loyola.

The game was tied until the last eight seconds, with everyone in the bleachers wondering who was going to win.

Senior Sarah Caywood scored the last goal, leaving the game at a score of 9-8. In addition to the last point, Caywood also scored three other goals throughout the game and had two assists.

“We started off really flat, but our team found some internal strength and came back from down 4-1,” head coach, Matt Wendt said. Throughout his years, Coach Wendt has led many girls’ varsity water polo teams to victories at sectionals and regionals.

He was able to coach his players to a win this time too, despite the team’s unlucky start in the first quarter.

Wendt commented on the outstanding performance of senior goalie Elizabeth McKenna, who had a total of eight saves during the game.

Senior Kami Grochowski, the team’s lefty for the last two years, also helped out. Grochowski scored two goals and provided a lot of counterattack speed, opening things up for the team.

After the match, sophomore Leah Caywood noted that the team’s confidence seemed to be lacking at the beginning of the game, due to this being only the second game in the season.

With several new teammates, the girls are still getting to know each other, but Leah Caywood said that “as the game went on, we became more unified and everyone was able to come together as a team.”

“It was really hard, but everyone really stepped up to their highest potential by the second quarter when we got a bunch of points back,” junior Alaina Vivian said.

Sarah Caywood expressed the team’s difficulty during the first game of the season against Glenbrook North, saying that they had a hard time clicking, especially since there are several new players on the team.

However, she stated that during this game she felt that all the girls really connected. Teammates came together well in this match to overcome many strong players from Loyola.

“My favorite part was when I was on the defensive end and we had just gotten the ball back. I passed it down to Maddy Aron, a sophomore, new to the team, and she got her first varsity goal. It felt really good to have that kind of connection,” Sarah Caywood said.

For Sarah Caywood, a member of varsity since sophomore year, getting passes to some of the younger girls was one of the biggest parts of the game, especially since it was such an important match, as Loyola is one of New Trier’s biggest competitors.

“We had some great minutes from our sophomores on the bench,” noted Wendt. Aron and sophomore Addy Hillerbrand, both new to the team, scored a goal each.

Although the girls were ultimately able to pull off the win in the last several seconds, the team had to work together to get past a few obstacles during the game.

“We made a lot of mistakes, but still managed to win, and that’s a sign of a good team,” said Wendt.