CARMEL
It was almost heartbreak for the boys water polo team at the Valley Division Tri-County Athletic League final Saturday.
With 11 second left, and clinging to a one goal lead, San Benito turned the ball over to Palma’s Charles Kesecker, who quickly threw the ball into the net to knot the championship game score at 8-8.
After nearly 28 minutes of back-and-forth water polo, the Balers and the Chieftains looked like another overtime was in their future.
But San Benito’s Jacob Garcia had a different plan.
Grabbing the ball at mid-pool as the seconds ticked off the clock, Garcia fired the long-range shot at the Palma net.
Leaping out of the pool, Garcia threw a laser. Palma’s goalie Jacob Gumke, who made 12 saves throughout the game, reached out for the seemingly easy save, but whether it was the wet ball, the velocity of the shot, or just the magnitude of the moment, Gumke couldn’t grab the ball.
The ball skipped off his hands and into the back of the net. The goal came with less than 3 second left in the game, giving San Benito a 9-8 lead, and win.
“I shot that and I fired it pretty hard,” Garcia said. “My aim wasn’t the best but it was fast enough to get through the goalie’s hands, and that’s all that matters.”
He continued: “When I saw that go in and hit the back of the net, it was pure joy. I was jumping and hugging all my teammates. Probably one of the greatest moments of my water polo career.”
With the 9-8 victory, the Balers earned a berth in the 2011 Central Coast Section championship tournament. With a 17-7 record and a TCAL Valley Division championship, the Balers were selected as the 12th seed in the tournament.
San Benito travels to Carmel High on Tuesday to take on Mountain View. The game is expected to start at 5:30 p.m.
But it was that last second goal that sent the Balers to the CCS tournament. On Saturday, the small, but vocal, group of San Benito fans erupted as the final whistle blew.
In 10 seconds, the team went from shock to pure joy.
“I thought we were going into overtime for sure, but Jake pulled that one out,” head coach Aaron Gautney said. “That was the winner for sure. I was thrilled, shocked … thrilled. They are a really good team and it was a tough game all the way through. I couldn’t have asked for it to end any better.”
It was the perfect way to end a game that saw the two teams match each other goal for goal. Neither team had a lead of larger than two in the game’s 28 minutes.
“It was tough,” Gautney said. “They are a very good team. I was nervous and I was really worried about them, but I knew if we came together we could do it – and it happened.”
Palma got off to a fast start, shocking the Balers with two quick goals in the first two minutes. San Benito struck back nearly two minutes later when Garcia received a quick pass from Jaret Barrios. Garcia, with an open net, put the Balers on the board for the first time.
Afterward, the Balers continued to apply pressure on Palma, but they couldn’t get that tying goal.
After strong defense from Tyler Reuther, which forced a bad pass, San Benito’s Colton Owczarzak stole the ball from Palma and pushed up the pool. Owczarzak found an open Garcia, who tied the game with 1:55 left in the first quarter.
San Benito and Palma traded goals over the next three quarters, with each team grabbing one goal leads.
The tide turned toward San Benito’s way midway through the third quarter. After Palma’s Nike Yeo gave the Chieftains their third lead of the game, the Balers needed only four seconds to respond.
With some more quick passing in an offensive set, Carlos Huerta fired the ball at the net to tie the game. Two minutes later, Huerta tallied another goal and San Benito took its second lead of the game.
Once again, Palma tied the game with only seven seconds left in the third quarter.
Despite dominating the game on the offensive end – the Balers outshot Palma 21-13 – the Balers never found a consistent offensive rhythm.
In the fourth quarter, the game turned into a defensive fist fight, as neither team could find space to fire the ball at the net.
Eventually, with a little more than minute left in the game, Huerta went on a fast break to the Palma net after a block and pass from Reuther. Huerta quickly shot the ball into the back of the net to give the Balers the late lead.
The 8-7 score would last a minute, before the two-goal flurry in the final 11 seconds.
The close game was exactly what Garcia expected coming in, he said.
“This was the toughest game,” Garcia said. “I’ve been waiting for it all season. Palma is a great team. They are our water polo rivals and I’m just glad we pulled it out of our pocket and got the victory.”
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