Emotions were running high at the Berkeley High School girls water polo team’s last home game against Piedmont High School on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2024. Following a beautiful senior night ceremony, where each senior received a sign made by the underclassmen on the team and flowers from their coach, the game began. Senior player Phoebe Jasper-Hwang explained that the senior night ceremony was really special and said that, “It was fun to be up there, since I watched (the senior night ceremony) for four years of teammates.”
With senior Cece Lutz starting as goalkeeper, the Jackets came out strong in the first quarter. BHS senior Zoe Glass scored the first goal with five minutes remaining in the quarter. BHS senior Morgan Ostrer scored BHS’s second goal with an assist from Senior Eden Barnes. Piedmont also scored their first goal towards the end of the first quarter, but BHS quickly responded by scoring with another assist from Barnes to Glass, who lobbed the ball right over Piedmont’s goalie.
Glass scored again with one minute left in the first quarter and Barnes finished the quarter with a breakaway goal, yet it ended up not counting towards the final score. The game proceeded with BHS possessing the ball for the majority of the game. However, when Barnes was removed from the game for retrieving a ball in the pool while she wasn’t in the pool, tensions rose and several teammates spoke up against the call.
The team tried to keep themselves together and finish out the game with a win. The Jacket’s coach got a yellow card for disputing a referee’s call, but Berkeley held it together with Ostrer scoring several goals towards the end of the fourth quarter, with BHS eventually winning 7-2.
When asked about the team’s performance, Ostrer said, “I thought the game itself went pretty well. We had a bit of an upset with the refs kicking out one of our seniors for the entire game, and that was pretty tragic … the team was stunned for a second after but we pulled it together in the second half of the game.”
Lutz also added, “ I thought that everyone played well. It was a good senior night. I’m really happy that we won.” She felt that the team was really supportive of the seniors for their final home game. “I really appreciate how everyone on the team made the seniors feel special and loved,” Lutz expressed.
Having a new head coach this year, the water polo team adjusted to the new coaching style and have worked especially hard this season, achieving several accomplishments. The seniors on the team are especially proud of beating Bishop O’Dowd High School earlier this season, and are hopeful to win league this year and take home the West Alameda County Conference-championship for their last year on the team.