The varsity water polo team, led by Head Coach Erik Healy, is 13-8 overall and 4-1 in league play. They are ranked eighth in CIF Southern Section Division 1 and have won five of their last seven games.

Senior co-captain Alex Lee said, “It starts with our practices. If we focus and practice well, we will be prepared for our games. Most importantly, it’s about our mentality. We have proven that we should be the best team, but mental lapses and mistakes have hurt our team, and against good teams, that is enough to lose.”

Loyola played against St. Francis on Oct. 3 and won 23-4. Loyola scored eight goals in the first quarter. The Cubs led substantially at halftime 15-2. In the second half, the Cubs closed the game out, scoring eight and allowing two goals.

The following day against Notre Dame, the team won 14-6. In a rivalry game against Harvard-Westlake, the Cubs fell short 9-8. In the next game against Alemany, the Cubs rebounded with a 19-3 victory.

The team faced Orange Lutheran on Oct. 13, the first-placed team in CIF Southern Section Division 1.  The Cubs ended up falling just short 9-8. It was a close game throughout, as the score at halftime was 5-4 in favor of the Lancers. In the second half, Loyola’s comeback efforts came up short.

This weekend, the Cubs will participate in the Memorial Cup,  their final tournament before CIF Playoffs.  Their first game is against Buchanan on Oct. 20.

“Our goal is to win this tournament before going into the last week of our regular season,” Lee said.

The Cubs end their regular season with games against Mater Dei on Oct. 25 and Mira Costa on Oct. 27.