APTOS—The San Benito High girls water polo team rebounded from a tough 2013 campaign, but coach Ronni Gautschi said the 21 wins the team racked up wasn’t the most memorable part of the season.
“What’s more important than the wins and losses is the fact they became a team,” Gautschi said moments after the team lost to Menlo-Atherton 5-2 in a Central Coast Section Division I second-round playoff match on Nov. 13 at Aptos High. “Before I got here, they were yelling at each other in the pool, but we just had a good conversation where everyone went around and said what they learned in life, and the most I got out of that is they became best friends. To me, that’s more important than winning or losing a water polo match.”
The Haybalers finished a fine 2014 season at 21-6, more than doubling the wins from a year ago. The team was basically eight players strong, a core group that has made dramatic improvement in the last couple of years.
Against Menlo-Atherton, the Balers got off to a nice start, scoring the game’s first goal when senior Riley Drexler lofted a perfect shot into the upper left corner from six meters away on the 6-on-5 advantage to make it 1-0 with 5 minutes, 47 seconds left in the first period.
Unfortunately for San Benito, it was all downhill after that. M-A scored the next five goals before the Balers finally scored again with 4:23 remaining when Grace Larson delivered a perfect shot to the upper left corner from six meters away.
Although San Benito was successful on two long shots, it was less than scintillating on the 19 other shots it placed on goal. Time and again the Balers’ shots went straight to the body of Bears goalie Francesca Gilles, who also made a number of nice saves in which she had to extend her body.
Although the Bears won comfortably, Gautschi felt her team had a hand in the outcome.
“We beat ourselves,” she said. “We couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. The team put their heart in the game for sure, and they worked their butts off and tried really hard. If they (M-A) was a much better team, my feeling would be different, and that’s why it’s hard for me to take because I didn’t feel like they were a much better team. But give them credit for playing good defense and winning.”
San Benito won two tournaments this season, and went 10-2 to finish second in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division. Gautschi felt great about the program’s future, noting all of the team’s returning players were going to play for her club team, the Morgan Hill Manta.
Another off-season of year-round play means the Balers should come back an even stronger unit in 2015. They’ll lose standout players Erin Hepner, Racel Smithee, Shannon Stephens, Heather Smith and Drexler to graduation, but will return Larson, Ceily Hepner, Karlie Sanchez, Hayleigh Smith, Michaela Krulee and Bernadette Forbush.
Gautschi also expects a player or two from the junior varsity team to make an impact next year.
“The season was great, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” she said. “This is the best group of girls I’ve coached by far. I can’t wait to get next season started. This team exceeded many people’s expectations, and even though it’s over, they’ll still have the best friends you can ever imagine.”
