GILROY – A dominant second half, including four fourth-period
goals lifted the Gilroy High girls varsity water polo team past
Notre Dame in the opening round of the Tri County Athletic League
Tournament on Tuesday afternoon in Gilroy.
GILROY – A dominant second half, including four fourth-period goals lifted the Gilroy High girls varsity water polo team past Notre Dame in the opening round of the Tri County Athletic League Tournament on Tuesday afternoon in Gilroy.
The 6th-seeded Spirits’ game plan was clear from the get go – limit the touches of the Mustangs’ leading goal producer, Chelsea Hill.
The junior put the 3rd-seeded Mustangs up 1-0 just 20 seconds into the first period on a quick, backhanded shot, but remained silenced on offense until the late in the second.
The Mustangs finished the first up 4-2 on two goals by sophomore Michelle Shields and another by Nicole Nelsen. However, after Shields added her third of the game one minute into the second, the Spirits began to find cracks in the Mustangs’ defense, scoring on four straight possessions to take a 6-5 lead. Hill knotted things up just before halftime with her second goal of the contest.
With the Spirits keeping two extra defenders, plus the goalie, positioned in front of the cage and the double-teaming of Hill, the Mustangs look out of sync in the first half.
“We had to make some adjustments in the second half,” head coach Sean LaGuardia said. “They knew what to expect and they played us really well in the first half. I should have made the adjustment earlier. The girls adapted really well and that was the difference.”
The offensive tweaking led to more shots from outside players – Shields, Nicole Nelsen, Lean Ailes and Lauren Rhodes – and keep most of the offense on the perimeter.
“We kind of just know what to do and we just go for it,” Shields said. “We just trust each other. If we know the person is open enough we pass it.”
Rhodes and Shields accounted for five of the team’s seven second-half goals, with Shields leading the way with a team-high five scores. After the slow start the Mustangs put together one of their more well-rounded games of the season.
“This is what we have been trying to strive for,” LaGuardia said. “We got a lot of outside shots today.”
The Mustangs will play San Benito, the tournament’s No. 2-seed, in round two Thursday in Carmel.
Gilroy dropped its first match against the Balers, 15-8, but were with out Hill in the second half. It was also the Mustangs first game of the season. They would go onto to lose just once more in league the rest of the way.
“We will need to talk more in the water and play as a team,” Rhodes said of the possible matchup against San Benito on Thursday. “Our defense is good but we need to step it up offense even more.”
FINAL STATS
Junior, Devan Lauber – 8 saves
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Junior, Lauren Rhodes – 3 goals, 4 assists, 2 steals
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Senior, Alyssa Rothenberg – 1 goal, 1 steal
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Sophomore, Michelle Shields – 5 goals, 2 assists, 4 steals
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Junior, Nicole Nelsen – 1 goal, 1 steal
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Junior, Chelsea Hill – 3 goals, 4 assists, 3 steals
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Junior, Leah Ailes – 1 assist, 5 steals
