Lady ‘Balers beat Notre Dame 9-4 in the pool Thursday
HOLLISTER
Kelsey Russell celebrated Senior Day with a team-high three goals against Notre Dame on Thursday, and she only played the field for two quarters.
After building a 7-0 lead at halftime, Russell played goalie for the third and fourth quarters, and helped keep the Spirits away in the end as the San Benito girls water polo team cruised to an easy 9-4 victory.
Along with Katie Thorpe, who played the entire first half in goal Thursday, the two keepers held Notre Dame without a goal for the first 20 minutes and 15 seconds of the game.
Only with 45 seconds left in the third and trailing by eight did the Spirits get on the board.
“It was important for team morale to win this game,” coach Hayley Vandercook said. “We have three big league teams on Saturday (at the H2Oktoberfest), so this was important to get us up and ready for the three games.”
Hollister is hosting the eight-team H2Oktoberfest, which begins Saturday at 7:30 a.m. when San Benito plays Carmel.
The championship will be played at 6:30 p.m.
Earlier this week, Carmel defeated the Lady ‘Balers 5-3 in Hollister.
Depending on how the TCAL Tournament pans out, though, this weekend’s H2Oktoberfest could be the last home games for the eight seniors on San Benito, including Russell, Ali Blake, Ronnie Stern, Natalie Becker, Sarah Kelso, Katie Schaaphok, Taylor Cameron and Dina Silva.
In terms of the league season, however, the senior Lady ‘Balers certainly ended it on a positive note with the convincing victory against Notre Dame.
Stern tied Russell with three goals in the game, while Amanda Virak and Ali Blake each added a score.
San Benito is now 4-3 in the TCAL, 11-9 overall.
After this weekend’s tournament, San Benito is slated to play Santa Catalina in Monterey on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
