GHS girls water polo edged by Monterey 5-2 in opening game of
T-CALs
MORGAN HILL – Even as the cold day turned into an even colder night, the Gilroy High girls water polo team found that the sting of the frigid air didn’t phase them as much as their 5-2 loss to Monterey.
“I don’t think we were quite ready for this game. I don’t think we prepared enough for it,” said junior Lauryn Rossi, following the first-round loss in the T-CAL Tournament at Live Oak High. “We were expecting it to be at least within a one-point range.”
Gilroy didn’t get off to a strong start in the first quarter as Monterey was able to score a minute in and then extend to a 2-0 lead on its first two shots. The Lady Mustang defense finally put the clamps down and with 19 seconds left, Rossi found the back of the net to put Gilroy on the board.
“They knew I was going to come out shooting and they put their best on me,” said Rossi, the team’s leading scorer.
The Lady Mustangs kept themselves within one goal midway through the second quarter – battling Monterey and generating many shots on goal. But the garlic girls just could not capitalize.
Monterey scored their third goal at 3:49 and another at 1:56, while Gilroy went scoreless. In the third quarter, the Lady Mustangs really brought out their best defense and kept themselves within two goals.
“We really didn’t have any offense today. We just didn’t move the ball around. If you don’t score goals, you don’t win,” head coach Andy Been said. “It was a tough game.”
Gilroy battled with everything they had in the fourth quarter – but the first strike didn’t come until 1:48 remained when senior Lindsay Been was able to get the ball past Monterey’s goalie. Down by only one, Gilroy tried hard to make a run, but came up empty. Instead they let Monterey score with only 14 seconds left in the game.
“I think we did good. Our team has always been the underdogs and this year we’ve shown that we have potetial,” Been said.
