Dow leads Gilroy to two straight victories over Notre Dame,
Monterey.
MORGAN HILL – The Lady Mustang water polo team finished up its season in style Saturday with an 8-1 rout of Monterey to take fifth place in the end-of-the-year league tournament.
Gilroy found itself in a defensive battle against Monterey to start Saturday’s match. After the teams exchanged goals in the first quarter for a 1-1 tie score, Gilroy’s Kim Spaulding gave her team a boost with a heads-up play. Spaulding pressured the Monterey goalkeeper back into her net and when the goalie reached back to make a pass, the ball broke the plane – resulting in a Mustang goal credited to Spaulding. At the half, Gilroy led 2-1.
The Lady Mustangs came out firing in the third quarter as senior captain Danell Dow scored off a feed from teammate Diana Wallace and Lauryn Rossi followed with a strike off an assist via Roseanna Rosso. Then, Rosso joined the scoring jamboree with a pair of goals to give Gilroy a 6-1 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
Gilroy pulled away further in the fourth quarter with Rossi and Dow finding the back of the net to close out the scoring. Meanwhile, the Lady Mustang defense shut out Monterey for a third straight quarter. Netminder Laura Rink made eight saves. Dow registered a team-high five steals with Wallace (four), Rosso (three), Azalia Quesada (two), Spaulding (two) and Rossi (two) all battling for takeaways.
WIN IN MONTEREY: With their backs against the wall following an opening 7-6 loss to Santa Catalina, the Lady Mustangs rolled into the fifth-place match by first topping Notre Dame 11-6 in Thursday’s contest in Monterey.
Dow netted the first two goals for Gilroy to give her squad a 2-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Lady Mustangs erupted for four unanswered goals to extend to a 8-2 halftime lead. Dow scored four goals, while Rossi and Wallace added one apiece. Rosso and Spaulding both had three assists in the second.
In the third quarter, Dow opened with an unassisted strike and then Spaulding netted one for a 10-4 advantage. In the final quarter, Stacey Jensen scored off a feed from Dow to close out the scoring.
Gilroy leaders on defensive steals were Wallace (five), Quesada (four) and Rosso (three).
SEASON TOTALS: For the season, Dow scored a team-high 97 goals as Rossi was second with 38 and Rosso third with 13. Dow also led the Mustangs in assists with 36 as Rosso finished with 35, Wallace with 26 and Spaulding with 14. The Gilroy steal-leaders were Dow (70), Wallace (48), Rosso (31), Spaulding (26), and Rossi (16).
