After pulling within one goal of the Mustangs with about two
minutes remaining in the final stanza, the Lady Balers couldn’t
pocket the equalizer and suffered a difficult 9-8 defeat to Gilroy
in Carmel.
CARMEL
Trailing 8-3 entering the fourth quarter against rival Gilroy in the Tri-County Athletic League Tournament semifinals on Thursday, the San Benito High girls water polo team needed a bit of a miracle.
And they nearly got one.
But after pulling within one goal of the Mustangs with about two minutes remaining in the final stanza, the Lady Balers couldn’t pocket the equalizer and suffered a difficult 9-8 defeat to Gilroy in Carmel.
The loss places No. 2 San Benito into the third- and fourth-place consolation match on Saturday. It will square off with Stevenson in Carmel at 2 p.m.
The Pirates, who lost to San Benito by an 11-5 margin during the regular season, lost to Salinas 10-8 in the semifinals on Thursday.
With only the top three teams moving on to the playoffs, Saturday’s third-place victor will advance to the Central Coast Section Girls Water Polo Championships next week.
No. 3 Gilroy, meanwhile, will face top-seeded Salinas in Carmel at 4 p.m., for the TCAL title.
The Lady Balers (13-7) had previously defeated Gilroy 15-8 in early September, but Thursday’s semifinal match had the Mustangs jump out to a 5-2 lead at halftime and an 8-3 lead after three quarters.
And although San Benito outscored Gilroy 5-1 in the final period, the deficit was too great to overcome.
“My girls showed up to play,” San Benito head coach Hayley Vandercook said of the fourth quarter.
The Lady Balers, anchored by Amanda Virak, who scored five goals and played her “best game,” Vandercook said, trailed 8-6 at one point in the fourth quarter. Gilroy then scored its lone goal in the period to make it 9-6, while San Benito made it 9-7, then 9-8 with two minutes remaining.
“I think at that point we were rushing,” Vandercook said. “It was a make-or-break situation, so we may have rushed.
“We expected it to be a hard game. Coming out and losing 8-3 was unexpected.”
Jeannette Rodriguez, Hannah Smith and Demi Gatrell each had one goal apiece for San Benito, while keeper Katie Thorpe had eight saves in net.
Gilroy’s Chelsea Hill had five scores.
“They played better as a team than we did today,” Vandercook said. “In the fourth quarter my girls were unstoppable, but we just didn’t have any time left.”
