Although the Gilroy varsity girls water polo team lost 14-4 in
the Tri-County Athletic League tournament Friday at Santa Catalina,
they still have a chance to qualify for the Central Coast Section
playoffs.
Although the Gilroy varsity girls water polo team lost 14-4 in the Tri-County Athletic League tournament Friday at Santa Catalina, they still have a chance to qualify for the Central Coast Section playoffs.
But to do that, the team will have to defeat Salinas, which it lost to twice this season. The consolation game will be played at 10 a.m. today at Santa Catalina.
“We’re in a good position now,” said Gilroy Coach Andy Been. “Last year, we had some problems with chemistry at the end of the year, but this year the veterans and the girls we’ve brought up are gelling together.”
With a couple recent injuries, Been said he will be looking for the younger players to step up against Salinas.
“We’re going to try to play a stronger defensive game and let some of the younger players we brought up go down and score,” Been said. “They’re a fast team. We’ve got our work cut out for us. They’re a very solid team, and we’ll be playing in big water, which they will try to exploit.”
Against Santa Catalina, Gilroy was down just 3-1 after the first quarter. Santa Catalina scored two quick goals. Gilroy’s Jenny Ailes had a half-court shot before the Cougars answered with their own half-court shot.
From there it was all Cougars. The other Gilroy goal scorers were Alana Osaki, Chelsea Hill and Meghan Collett.
“It was a tough game,” Been said. “They were a class above us. It’s nice to be in the hunt to get in finals. They were a little faster than us and they exploited that. They played really great defense against us. We had a couple seniors missing and that hurt us on defense.”
