The girls water polo comfortably swept the Wilcox Chargers 8-0 in the CCS quarterfinals on Saturday morning.
The Bears dominated the match right out of the gate: sophomore Harper Williams won the sprint and junior Scarlett Shenk quickly sank a five-meter penalty. “We went in with our goal to not let them get any goals or any kickbacks and to focus a lot on our defense,” Williams said.
Keeping up this momentum, Shenk scored a second goal for the Bears. M-A held onto the lead with strong defensive moves throughout, causing the Chargers to miss their first shot attempt, aiming well above the crossbar.
Sophomore Sarah Coolican scored the Bears’ third goal with 4:31 left in the quarter. Just a minute later, Coolican won a dramatic fight for the ball, turning the possession back over to the Bears.
Junior Molly Gray drove the ball into the cage with 2:27 left in the first quarter, advancing the Bears to a 4-0 lead.
Moving into the second quarter, the Bears’ defense continued to hold firm, with consistent steals from junior Sabine Polly.
While on offense, Coolican drew a five-meter penalty. Polly took the penalty shot, driving the ball into the net, giving the Bears a 5-0 lead against the Chargers. Shenk closed out the first half by drawing another penalty shot and swiftly planting the goal.
“We went in thinking about the game quarter by quarter and not as a whole. We had to come out strong in the first quarter, and then after that, we just had to carry the momentum,” senior Emily Freitas said.
Returning from halftime the Bears surged on defense. Senior Lexi Nelson controlled the goal with unwavering confidence, blocking a powerful shot from the Chargers.
Shenk tallied another goal for the Bears with 4:11 left. Immediately after Shenk’s goal, Coolican stole the ball again and put M-A back on offense.
Despite several timeouts, the Chargers still failed to squeeze past the Bears’ defense. The Chargers continued to take shot after shot for the last minute of the quarter, but Nelson’s persistent saves prevented them from scoring. The third quarter drew to a close with the Bears holding a 7-0 lead.
Diving into the final quarter of the game, freshman Fiona McGaraghan took Nelson’s place and jumped into goal for the Bears. The Chargers were finally able to secure a sprint, narrowly beating the Bears. The Chargers made a goal attempt but were unable to avoid McGaraghan’s block.
Junior goalkeeper Brealyn Trujillo dove into Nelson’s position, and saved a forceful shot attempt by the Chargers.
The Bears defense remained steadfast until the last seconds of the game, with senior Ruby Pence seizing the rebound off a Chargers’ goal attempt and forcing Wilcox to call another timeout.
After another save from Trujillo and a quick timeout, senior Zoe Gostyla sank the final goal of the game, securing a clean 8-0 sweep for M-A.
“Now we are going to watch the game that determines who we play next. We’re gonna take notes and then on Monday at 8:00 a.m., we will be practicing what we need to in order to defend and take advantage of their drawbacks,” Polly said.
The Bears will face the Leigh Longhorns at Palo Alto High School for the CCS semi finals on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
