GILROY—Each time Christopher and San Benito meet in the water, sparks fly and Tuesday’s contest was no different. The Balers got the better of the Cougars this time, winning 11-7 at Christopher High.
“Every game we approach like we’re the underdog,” San Benito coach Brendan Sigourney said. “Christopher always has a good team, so I think we’re lucky to get a win here.”
San Benito held a two-point lead, 8-6, after the third quarter. And though the Cougars were still within striking distance, their momentum seemed to be snuffed out as the Balers quickly pulled away in the fourth with two quick scores to take a 10-6 lead.
“I think we got a little excited. In my own personal opinion, people forgot what they were supposed to do,” Cougar coach Paul Wells said. “You’ve got to stick to the game plan; you’ve got to execute…It was a close game, no doubt about it, I was very pleased. We’ll get another chance at them.”
It was even closer at halftime. San Benito led 4-3 at the break, but not for long. Christopher’s Noah Vasquez scored 20 seconds into halftime to even things at 4-4, but San Benito’s Eric De La Torre stole the momentum back with a goal less than 40 seconds later.
Zach Gallardo tied things up again with 4:36 remaining in the quarter. But the Balers struck again almost immediately off a Daniel Reimer goal.
A 5-meter penalty gave Gallardo a shot to even the game. He missed, causing the Balers’ fans to erupt but their celebration was quickly silenced. As the ball ricocheted out of the net, Gallardo snatched it up to score off his own rebound and tie the game at 6-6.
Quick goals from Jared Murdaugh and Reimer put San Benito ahead 8-6 at the end of the quarter. Reimer led the Balers with four goals against the Cougars.
“The first half I think we played some of the best (water polo) we’ve ever played,” said Gallardo, who led the Cougars with four goals. “In the second half, it just absolutely fell apart. We let it get to our heads and we just broke down. We started making stupid mistakes, bad passing and taking stupid shots.”
The game could’ve been much different if it wasn’t for San Benito’s Dakota Nix. The netminder used his face, chest and arms to block several key shots and limit the Cougars’ chances. Nix said he didn’t deserve all the credit and complimented his teammates for their solid defensive effort.
“I didn’t want to do all the work by myself and obviously I didn’t because I had such a good defense in front of me,” Nix said. “I just wanted to keep their score as low as I could.”
The two teams will meet again at 5 p.m. Oct. 13 in Hollister. And next time, Gallardo said, the Cougars will be ready.
“It’s going to be a completely different game. I’m going to get in my player’s ears,” he said. “We need to relax. We let our nerves get to us and we’re better a team that we showed.”
Christopher (0-1) will play at Stevenson at 4 p.m. Thursday. San Benito travels to Everett Alvarez at 4 p.m. Sept. 21.
