The Haybaler girls water polo team had to work hard for its
shots Wednesday against visiting Notre Dame, but the Balers were
still able to walk away with a 9-2 win.
”
Our passes weren’t there,
”
said Baler coach Derek Kisling.
”
We just didn’t look sharp. And the girls know they need to pick
it up if we are going to win in the finals. Notre Dame did what it
had to do to rattle our cage.
”
The Haybaler girls water polo team had to work hard for its shots Wednesday against visiting Notre Dame, but the Balers were still able to walk away with a 9-2 win.
“Our passes weren’t there,” said Baler coach Derek Kisling. “We just didn’t look sharp. And the girls know they need to pick it up if we are going to win in the finals. Notre Dame did what it had to do to rattle our cage.”
The Balers (12-11, 6-1 TCAL) finished up the regular season on a high note. Their only loss this season came against the Acorns, who claimed the No. 1 seed in the league finals that begin Nov. 4.
The Balers will again face Notre Dame (7-20, 1-6 TCAL) in the first round of the finals played in Hollister on Tuesday. The next rounds will be played Thursday and Saturday in Santa Catalina.
San Benito will have to defeat Live Oak in order to be assured a spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs. But the Balers may still qualify for an at-large berth if they can finish second.
“Live Oak is the type of team you can’t make mistakes against,” Kisling said. “We have to make the plays and play mistake free. The girls want this bad.”
Baler goalie Erin Reed came up big numerous times to stop Notre Dame. She gave up the first goal in the second quarter on a ball that she wasn’t able to cleanly stop. But the second goal wasn’t scored until the fourth quarter on a turnaround shot by Jessy Carter.
San Benito started off the scoring at the 5:20 mark in the opening frame.
Kathryn Adamek took the 4-meter penalty shot on the goalie and powered it in. Denise Simens lobbed in a second goal 21 seconds later.
With 1:40 left in the first quarter, the Balers went up 3-0 after passing the ball around the pool before Stacey Lass finished.
As the game went on, the Spirits were content to shoot from the outside. Notre Dame goalie Melissa Ward had several shot attempts, but they were easily stopped.
“It was a good tightly played clean game,” said Spirits coach Derek Becker. “Both teams got good shots off, and both goalies came up big.”
Jenna Decoite, at the 2-meter, scored her only goal on a side flicker in the second period with 5:15 left. With 40 second left in the first half, Ward got a hand on a shot by Lass. But Lass knocked it out of her hands for a goal.
Adamek scored the only Baler goal in the third quarter, and Simens added a goal at the start of the fourth. After Notre Dame was able to get its first goal since early on to make it 7-2, Lass won a battle with a goalie to force a shot in. And Lass capped the scoring with her fourth goal with 1:23 left.
JV note: The San Benito JV team opened up the match against Notre Dame down 4-1 after the end of the first quarter.
But the team was determined to remain undefeated in league play. The Balers came back and were able to cruise to a 12-7 win.
“The girls never gave up,” said coach Don Smith. “They played with a lot of heart. Our defense, which has been key all season, started to pick up, and we got the transition game going.”
Notre Dame scored a goal at the start of the second period to go up 5-3. But the Balers came back with eight unanswered points before Notre Dame broke it up with a goal with 1:15 left in the third quarter. But by then it was 11-6.
During that streak, even goalie Krista Maisonneuve scored a goal after lobbing a ball across the pool.
Brandy Russell led the way for San Benito with seven goals. Kaitlyn Lass had two goals, and Tara Damon also added a goal.
San Benito will finish up the season with a a tournament at Live Oak this weekend. The Balers will play Mitty on Friday at 3:10 p.m., Lynbrook on Saturday at 8:50 a.m. and Live Oak at 12:50 p.m. The Balers have already beat the Acorns twice this year.
After the game, the coaches announced that three players were moved up to the JV team – Maisonneuve, Russell and team captain Almeda Plank, who was out sick.
San Benito currently has a 17-1 overall record and a 6-0 league record. The only loss this year came in the Monte Vista Invitational against Soquel in a 7-6 contest.
