San Benito’s season ends in heartbreaking fashion Thursday, as
Carmel mounts comeback in 7-5 win
CARMEL
The No. 5 San Benito High girls water polo team lost a 7-5 heartbreaker to No. 4 Carmel on Thursday in the Tri-County Athletic League Tournament, and are now eliminated from postseason play.
“It was a very disappointing loss,” first-year coach Hayley Vandercook said Thursday night.
The defeat comes just two days after the Lady ‘Balers posted a 9-4 victory against No. 7 Santa Catalina on Tuesday.
And after they opened up a three-goal lead by halftime against Carmel on Thursday, San Benito seemed poised to advance to the next round.
But the Padres outscored the Lady ‘Balers 6-1 in the second half to overcome the three-goal deficit at the break, and ended San Benito’s bid of defending last year’s TCAL title.
“They stopped playing,” Vandercook added. “They played great in the first half … but as soon as [Carmel] started coming back, we just fell apart.”
After San Benito took a 4-1 lead to halftime, the two teams were knotted at 4-all in the fourth quarter. Vandercook said Kelsey Russell scored an immediate goal to give the Lady ‘Balers a 5-4 lead late in the game.
But Carmel scored three unaswered goals in the waning minutes to steal the win.
“I don’t think it was a tired thing,” said Vandercook when asked if fatigue was a factor in the second half. “We just kept making little mistakes.”
San Benito lost keeper Katie Thorpe in the first half when she took a ball to the head and was forced to leave the game. JT Temperino filled in for Thorpe and played solid, Vandercook said, even blocking a five-meter shot at one point.
Thorpe returned in the second quarter and played “awesome,” Vandercook said.
In order to qualify for the Central Coast Section playoffs, however, San Benito needed to crack the top three. Only Stevenson, Carmel, Gilroy and Salinas remain.
San Benito finishes the season at 15-11 overall.
In other news, the San Benito boys water polo team will play their first game of the TCAL Tournament tonight, Friday, at 6 p.m., at Carmel.
With a win on Friday, the ‘Balers would advance to Saturday’s championship at 12:45 p.m., at Watsonville High. A loss would send San Benito to the consolation round at 10:15 a.m.
