Morgan Hill
– It started out slowly.
It ended with sweet revenge.
Morgan Hill – It started out slowly.
It ended with sweet revenge.
At a first-round TCAL tournament game at Live Oak, the Gilroy High girls water polo team stormed back from an early deficit to defeat RLS in an 8-7, double-overtime thriller that avenged a 14-7 loss three weeks ago.
“The girls are ecstatic,” head coach Andy Been said. “I could barely get them out of the pool afterward. We were thrilled to avenge that loss.”
By the end of the first period, the Mustangs were already down 3-0. They came back, though, on the backs of a senior and a freshman. Gilroy received two goals each from veteran Lauryn Rossi and newcomer Jenny Ailes to take a 4-3 halftime lead
It was Ailes’ first game since being called up from junior varsity.
“Jenny was great,” Been said. “She has a really good shot and I think that surprised them. They weren’t on her.”
Rossi added another goal in the third and fellow senior Kim Spaulding added the team’s final score of regulation.
Some excellent team defense and Gilroy’s pre-game emphasis on kick-outs paid off, Been noted.
“In practice we talked about getting a lot of kick-outs and the girls came through,” he said. “Spaulding had eight today. That’s amazing.”
Also, GHS goalie Laura Rink, whose bad back rendered her ineffective in the teams’ first matchup, was fully healthy and fully in control this time.
“Laura was incredible,” Been said. “I can’t tell you how many blocks she had.”
The Pirates did, however, score the last two goals of regulation to force an overtime period – or two as it turned out.
With Cate Pedersen and Azalia Quesada already fouled out, Spaulding managed to score the first goal of the five-minute OT period.
Stevenson responded with one of its own, though, and the game went into a second overtime.
With about 30 seconds remaining in that session, Gilroy’s old reliable, Rossi, surprised the Pirate goalie and fired the game-winner from 15 meters out.
“It was a heck of a game,” Been said.
Starting off in the winners’ bracket, the Mustangs are now set to take on Live Oak Thursday at 5:30 at Santa Catalina School.
RLS Part II
Now it’s the Gilroy boys’ turn to take on the Pirates in TCAL tournament action.
The Mustangs travel to Santa Catalina today to take on RLS.
No. 5 GHS (16-6) is seeded one spot ahead of Stevenson and was supposed to host the match.
But coach Tom Clark agreed to move it to Monterey since it would be more convenient for No. 4 Carmel and No. 7 Monterey.
The four teams are vying for the chance to join three squads with a bye – Live Oak, San Benito and Salinas – at the Super Saturday semifinals in Morgan Hill.
If the ‘Stangs prevail tonight, they’ll face the Carmel-Monterey winner Friday at Live Oak.
