Dow nets 6 goals in water polo’s 12-7 home loss
GILROY – Even a half dozen goals via senior captain Danell Dow could not keep the Gilroy High girls water polo team afloat in Tuesday’s home match against league-foe Salinas. A more aggressive Lady Cowboys unit led from start to finish – fending off the host Lady Mustangs, 12-7.
“They have incredible swimmers,” said head coach Mark Rose of his Salinas opponents. “The last time we played them we were much more aggressive.”
This time around in the Tri-County League match-up Gilroy (2-4 in TCAL) slipped further away with each quarter – trailing 3-2 after one, 7-3 after two and 8-4 after three.
“It was very frustrating (how aggressive they were),” sophomore Kim Spaulding said. “They had a really good defense.”
The Gilroy defense had its hands full throughout as well as sophomore goaltender Laura Rink – who played solid in net finishing with 12 saves.
“She’s incredible even with the sun in her eyes,” said Rose of Rink. “She’s playing more aggressive. She’s coming out. She’s playing that extra defender for us.”
Defending the east goal is always a chore as defenders have the sun in the eyes, while attackers have the sun to their backs. But even with the sun in their opponents’ eyes to start, the Lady Mustangs could not jump out to an early lead – getting outscored 3-2 by Salinas.
“That’s something we talked about,” Rose said.
In the second quarter when the teams switched sides, the Lady Cowboys (5-2 in TCAL) made their move – netting four consecutive goals with somme strong, effective transition play. The lone Gilroy goal came from forward Lauryn Rossi – who finished with an assist and three steals as well – to close the half down by four.
“She’s a lot more confident,” said Rose of Rossi. “She’s been told to take more shots.”
Dow – who also tallied two steals and one assist – gave the Lady Mustangs a spark to open the second half with a strike 10 minutes in. But neither team could gain an advantage until a Salinas score made it 8-4 at the end of three quarters.
Salinas put the game away in the final quarter with three straight goals. Gilroy retaliated with two of its own – but the Lady Cowboys were not done either, finding the back of the net one more time.
“We’ve been improving,” said Spaulding, whose squad will take on Salinas again at home in a make-up game on Halloween at 3 p.m. “We’re doing a lot better than the beginning of the season.”
