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The Spartan Stopper
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| La Cañada High goalie Kristine Cato allowed less than four goals per match this season to garner All-Area Girls’ Water Polo Player of the Year honors. Cato will play at USC in the fall.(Tammy Abbott/Glendale News-Press) |
La Cañada High goalie Kristine Cato was instrumental in squad capturing its first Rio Hondo League title since 2001 and advancing to the CIF Southern Section Division III quarterfinals
By Story by Dylan Kruse Photo by Tammy Abbott
When La Cañada High’s Kristine Cato was first introduced to the sport of water polo, the idea of playing goalie didn’t sit particularly well with her.
“I played [goalie] in soccer and it wasn’t for me,” said Cato, who got her first taste of playing goalie in her freshman year of water polo. “It was really a pressure position and I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t think I was going to be good at it.”
But after the standout senior season she turned in for the Spartans between the pipes to cap off her illustrious career, it’s no longer a question of if she can play the position, but rather if there is anyone who can play the position better.
In her final year patrolling the net for La Cañada before taking her skills to the University of Southern California in the fall, Cato compiled a year for the ages.
Her 371 saves were an area best, she earned Rio Hondo League Most Valuable Player honors for the second consecutive season and helped her Spartans team capture its first league championship since 2001, just the second title in school history.
And for her efforts, Cato has unanimously been chosen as the 2007-08 Girls’ Water Polo Player of the Year, as voted by the sports writers and editors of the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader, La Cañada Valley Sun and Crescenta Valley Sun.
“Kristine was a big part of our team,” La Cañada Coach Steven Silversparre said. “We were able to run multiple types of defenses because of her and her presence. We knew if we could force outside shots, she usually could come down with the blocks.”
Big saves were Cato’s calling card all season, as she allowed less than four goals per match. Her 6-foot-2 frame often gave opposing offenses fits and threw them out of sync.
“She’s a great goalie,” Silversparre said. “Her size obviously helps. Having a 6-2 goalie is huge.”
After finishing last season with 294 saves, Cato entered her senior campaign on a mission to hurdle 300.
“I was so close to 300 last year and that was kind of a goal for me,” said Cato, a second-team All-Area selection last season. “Once I hit 300, I just wanted to see how far I could go with it.”
How far she did go with it was navigating her team to a perfect Rio Hondo League campaign and all the way to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs.
For Cato, winning the league crown is an experience she says she’ll never forget.
“For all of us, I think it was a huge goal we wanted to achieve this year and to be able to get it was really satisfying,” said Cato, who led her squad to a 24-6 record.
In order to capture the elusive title, the Spartans had to find a way to get past a powerhouse Temple City squad that has essentially owned the Rio Hondo League as of late.
“Every year that they’ve come in second place to Temple City, it drove them to finally get over the hill and finally win league outright,” Silversparre said. “Undefeated was great for these girls, especially the seniors.”
Once the playoffs rolled around, Cato didn’t disappoint.
In a first-round match against St. Lucy’s, she hauled in 21 saves to help the Spartans prevail, 10-9, in overtime.
“The overtime game was scary the whole way through,” Cato said.
Then, in the final game of Cato’s prep career, La Cañada ran into a buzzsaw in a 5-0 loss to eventual Division III champion Riverside Poly.
Despite the loss, Cato limited Poly to a season-low in goals. Her performance in the postseason and throughout the course of the year left a lasting impression on her teammates.
“She was clearly our MVP,” sophomore teammate Riley Kessler said. “She was always behind us. She was always there. She was a big moral support for us.”
Teammates weren’t the only ones to take notice of Cato’s consistent performance, as perennial national power USC came calling after her junior season.
“She’s very good,” USC Coach Jovan Vavic said in a press release after Cato signed with the school in November. “She will really add depth to the goalie position.”
USC, currently ranked No. 3 in the country, plays in the rugged Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and is usually among the contenders for a national championship year in and year out.
It’s those credentials that Cato says persuaded her to become a Trojan.
“I think that was something that was really attractive to me because I knew it was going to make me play the best that I could,” said Cato, who hopes playing at USC can help propel her to the U.S. national team. “I have to really compete with some of the best goalies out there. I think it’s going to bring the best out of me.”
If her career at La Cañada is any indication of what the future holds for this burgeoning water polo star, the best may be yet to come. Just don’t ask her to play another position, because the goalie experiment seems to be working out just fine.
DYLAN KRUSE covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3252 or dylan.kruse@latimes.com.
“I played [goalie] in soccer and it wasn’t for me,” said Cato, who got her first taste of playing goalie in her freshman year of water polo. “It was really a pressure position and I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t think I was going to be good at it.”
But after the standout senior season she turned in for the Spartans between the pipes to cap off her illustrious career, it’s no longer a question of if she can play the position, but rather if there is anyone who can play the position better.
In her final year patrolling the net for La Cañada before taking her skills to the University of Southern California in the fall, Cato compiled a year for the ages.
Her 371 saves were an area best, she earned Rio Hondo League Most Valuable Player honors for the second consecutive season and helped her Spartans team capture its first league championship since 2001, just the second title in school history.
And for her efforts, Cato has unanimously been chosen as the 2007-08 Girls’ Water Polo Player of the Year, as voted by the sports writers and editors of the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader, La Cañada Valley Sun and Crescenta Valley Sun.
“Kristine was a big part of our team,” La Cañada Coach Steven Silversparre said. “We were able to run multiple types of defenses because of her and her presence. We knew if we could force outside shots, she usually could come down with the blocks.”
Big saves were Cato’s calling card all season, as she allowed less than four goals per match. Her 6-foot-2 frame often gave opposing offenses fits and threw them out of sync.
“She’s a great goalie,” Silversparre said. “Her size obviously helps. Having a 6-2 goalie is huge.”
After finishing last season with 294 saves, Cato entered her senior campaign on a mission to hurdle 300.
“I was so close to 300 last year and that was kind of a goal for me,” said Cato, a second-team All-Area selection last season. “Once I hit 300, I just wanted to see how far I could go with it.”
How far she did go with it was navigating her team to a perfect Rio Hondo League campaign and all the way to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs.
For Cato, winning the league crown is an experience she says she’ll never forget.
“For all of us, I think it was a huge goal we wanted to achieve this year and to be able to get it was really satisfying,” said Cato, who led her squad to a 24-6 record.
In order to capture the elusive title, the Spartans had to find a way to get past a powerhouse Temple City squad that has essentially owned the Rio Hondo League as of late.
“Every year that they’ve come in second place to Temple City, it drove them to finally get over the hill and finally win league outright,” Silversparre said. “Undefeated was great for these girls, especially the seniors.”
Once the playoffs rolled around, Cato didn’t disappoint.
In a first-round match against St. Lucy’s, she hauled in 21 saves to help the Spartans prevail, 10-9, in overtime.
“The overtime game was scary the whole way through,” Cato said.
Then, in the final game of Cato’s prep career, La Cañada ran into a buzzsaw in a 5-0 loss to eventual Division III champion Riverside Poly.
Despite the loss, Cato limited Poly to a season-low in goals. Her performance in the postseason and throughout the course of the year left a lasting impression on her teammates.
“She was clearly our MVP,” sophomore teammate Riley Kessler said. “She was always behind us. She was always there. She was a big moral support for us.”
Teammates weren’t the only ones to take notice of Cato’s consistent performance, as perennial national power USC came calling after her junior season.
“She’s very good,” USC Coach Jovan Vavic said in a press release after Cato signed with the school in November. “She will really add depth to the goalie position.”
USC, currently ranked No. 3 in the country, plays in the rugged Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and is usually among the contenders for a national championship year in and year out.
It’s those credentials that Cato says persuaded her to become a Trojan.
“I think that was something that was really attractive to me because I knew it was going to make me play the best that I could,” said Cato, who hopes playing at USC can help propel her to the U.S. national team. “I have to really compete with some of the best goalies out there. I think it’s going to bring the best out of me.”
If her career at La Cañada is any indication of what the future holds for this burgeoning water polo star, the best may be yet to come. Just don’t ask her to play another position, because the goalie experiment seems to be working out just fine.
DYLAN KRUSE covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3252 or dylan.kruse@latimes.com.
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