Amanda Virak’s back-hand goal with 36 seconds remaining put the
San Benito High girls water polo team up by a pair of scores over
Carmel Thursday, and the visiting Lady Balers managed to hold on to
a crucial 9-8 victory in Tri-County Athletic League play as a
result.
CARMEL
Amanda Virak’s back-hand goal with 36 seconds remaining put the San Benito High girls water polo team up by a pair of scores over Carmel Thursday, and the visiting Lady Balers managed to hold on to a crucial 9-8 victory in Tri-County Athletic League play as a result.
The regular-season finale victory improves San Benito to 7-1 in the TCAL — its lone loss coming to Salinas earlier this season. The win solidifies San Benito’s spot as the No. 2 team heading into next week’s TCAL Tournament, however, and on a collision course with the rival Cowboys.
Salinas earned the top spot in the TCAL Tournament, while Gilroy took No. 3, Stevenson No. 4 and Carmel No. 5. The remaining seeds were unknown as of press time.
San Benito, meanwhile, will open the TCAL Tournament against the No. 7 seed, which is either Notre Dame, Santa Catalina or Monterey, according to head coach Hayley Vandercook.
The winner would advance to Thursday’s semifinal round against the winner of the No. 3/No. 6 match-up, with Gilroy the No. 3 seed.
The Mustangs were in contention for the 2-spot, but only if San Benito would have lost to the host Padres on Thursday.
Following Virak’s score at the 36-second mark in the fourth quarter, a goal that pushed San Benito out to a 9-7 lead, Carmel’s Stephanie Haisley deposited her fifth goal of the game to pull the Padres to within one.
But San Benito controlled the ball for the final 19 seconds of the game to preserve its 9-8 victory.
In what was a “grind-it-out” game, Vandercook said, the Lady Balers pulled out a key victory that was not representative of its previous league wins — each of San Benito’s league victories came by six goals or more this season.
“I think they were flustered when it was close, but they definitely never gave up,” Vandercook said. “The girls played well some times and had a hard time adjusting at other times, bur they never gave up.”
Vandercook said the Lady Balers missed a few goal-scoring opportunities, while also had difficulty adjusting to Carmel’s pool, which is far larger than San Benito’s undersized venue.
Demi Gatrell led the Lady Balers with three goals, while Virak finished with two. Jeannette Rodriguez, Hannah Blake, Hannah Smith and Caitlin Schafer each had one goal.
Katie Thorpe “played spectacular” in net for San Benito, Vandercook said, providing 10 saves.
San Benito will play the seventh-seeded team on Tuesday, although no time or location has been announced.
