Coming off another undefeated season, its fourth consecutive perfect campaign, Greenwich High School’s girls water polo team of course, has once again, set the bar high for itself this spring.

“Our goals are to have fun with the game and to continue our tradition of being undefeated,” said Greenwich High School tri-captain Sophia Ojjeh, the Cardinals’ only senior this season.

So far, so good for the Cardinals, who through their first three games, resemble a team seeking perfection.

Greenwich improved its record to 3-0 with an impressive 18-6 victory over crosstown opponent Sacred Heart Greenwich – a team that’s looking to build its program. The game was the season-opener for the Tigers, who have had a varsity program for less than five years. In the Cardinals’ victory against the Tigers on April 3, Gigi Peck recorded four goals and one assist, Ojjeh registered two goals, Anna Whitridge tallied two goals and three assists and Natalia Velazquez had a hat trick in the winning effort.

Ojjeh captains the Cardinals with juniors Julia Gustaffson and Norah Mendelsohn. Gustaffson has been one of Greenwich’s leading goal scorers in past seasons and Mendelsohn solidifies the squad’s defense from her position as starting goalie.

“I love it, it’s a fun position to be in,” Gustaffson said of being one of the Cards’ captains. “I feel super confident in our team, we have a couple of new girls on our team, some girls who haven’t played water polo before, but they’re doing a great job. They’re getting good experience from playing so many games this week.”

Greenwich’s week also included victories against Staples High School and another Greenwich-based team, Greenwich Academy. The Cardinals’ 18-player roster features just one senior – Ojjeh, 11 juniors and several sophomores and freshmen.

“We have 18 girls, which is a pretty solid number for this team,” Greenwich coach Jimmy Ramaley said. “We have a big junior class, with 11 juniors, a really strong class. Hopefully, we can continue our undefeated streak. We really want to get as much competition as we can.”

Greenwich’s win over Sacred Heart Greenwich was its 50th straight victory spanning parts of five seasons. The Cardinals posted a record of 11-0 in 2021, went 9-0 in 2022, were 10-0 in 2023 and in 2024, rolled to a 17-0 mark.

“We have really good depth on our team and also a lot of experience, so we’re able to integrate newer girls a lot very easily,” Ojjeh noted. “Also, we have a lot of team spirit, so it’s a very fun season.”

In the win against SHG, Maggie Wilson had one assist and two steals, Kaleigh Murphy added one goal, one assist and one steal, Olivia DeVries posted one assist and four steals and Ainsley Sahrbeck contributed two goals and one assist to also pace GHS.

Lily Norton (one goal, one steal) and Ava Mendelsohn (two goals, one assist) also led the offense for Greenwich, which led Sacred Heart, 8-2, after the first quarter and 13-5 at halftime. For the Tigers, senior captain Annika Wise recorded a hat trick and senior captain Victoria Mordaunt tallied twice.

“We had no subs for this game, so I think this was a really great start for us,” said Wise, a three-year captain. “We have definitely improved from last season. I’m hoping that that sets a path for a good start to the season.”

Viola Vettorino added one goal for Sacred Heart, which is coached by Valentin Horvath, who is in his first season at the helm.

“It’s been super exciting, it’s a great group of girls,” Horvath said of his new role as coach of the Tigers. “I’m excited to coach them and see what they can do this year. The goal is to build a core for the team and pave the way for next year and the year after.”

Ojjeh scored the game’s opening goal with 6:35 remaining in the first quarter. Whitridge scored 36 seconds later, then Gustaffson tallied at the 5:34 mark of the first quarter, giving GHS a 3-0 lead. Velazquez and Peck scored two goals apiece in the opening quarter for the Cards, while Wise had both of the Tiger’s tallies.

“The goals of the team are to have an undefeated record, get the new girls some experience and everybody have fun,” Norah Mendelsohn noted. “We all play together a lot, we are all super close – it’s a tight knit team.”

Said Ojjeh: “We have really good team chemistry, we’ve all played together for almost 10 years, most of us and we have some new girls who we can easily integrate. Everyone is very friendly. Today’s game (against Sacred Heart) was a really fun game, everyone got involved. I’m excited to get the newer freshmen excited about the game.”

SHG hosts Staples High School at Brunswick School on April 9, then plays rival Greenwich Academy on April 23, followed by another matchup versus Greenwich High on April 24.

“We are definitely a new team, we are in the process of rebuilding our team, we lost a lot of seniors from last year,” Mordaunt said. “It’s really a fun sport and we’re all excited to have a team this year.”

Mordaunt, who recently concluded an outstanding swimming career at Sacred Heart, was pleased with how the Tigers competed against the extremely successful Cardinals.

“Our team did pretty well against Greenwich High School,” she said. “They’re more experienced than we are, but I’m proud of our team. Our goals are to improve as individual players and keep the team spirit up.”

Added Wise: “The main goal for our season is to create a positive team environment. We have nine players we want to create an environment where people are coming back. A positive team environment will make people want to come back and we can grow the team.”

Greenwich started its season with a 21-6 win at Staples High School. Whitridge, a freshman, had a game-high five goals to lead the Cardinals in the first game of her career. Ojjeh and Gustafsson chipped in hat tricks while Murphy, Norton and Sahrbeck, all juniors, each scored twice.

Starting goalie Norah Mendelsohn anchored the defense, allowing just five goals in three quarters while stopping nine shots including two penalties while Wilson, a junior, led the way with four steals. It was a balanced effort as 12 different Cardinals scored or assisted in the win.

Shea Morris, Addy Shaw and Ellison Charette, who weren’t at Greenwich’s matchup versus Sacred Heart, should also be key contributors to the Cardinals.

“We’re going to be a pretty balanced and cohesive unit,” Ramaley noted. “We are showing we can all play together.”