‘Balers suffer costly loss at Santa Catalina; team sees winning
streak end at 14 games
Monterey – After running off 14 straight wins and blowing out its previous Tri-County Athletic League opponents with ease, the San Benito girls’ water polo team headed into Santa Catalina with a great deal of momentum and confidence. But the host Cougars put a decisive end to the ‘Balers’ streak, scoring early and often to hand San Benito a 14-8 loss at Salyer Aquatic Center.
“Losing wasn’t really on our minds,” ‘Balers co-captain Jayme Telles said.
But after falling behind 4-0 in the first quarter amidst a few costly turnovers, San Benito dug itself too deep a hole as the Cougars used their opportunistic defense to seize sole possession of first place.
With the defeat, the ‘Balers’ dreams of a TCAL title took a serious hit. Should San Benito (16-3, 6-1 TCAL) and Santa Catalina both win their remaining league games, the ‘Balers would need to win the TCAL Tournament in order to finish as co-champions with the Cougars (14-3, 7-0 TCAL).
After gearing up for this game all season, San Benito fell victim to the turnovers it so often preyed on in roaring to its dominant start to the season. Attempting to work the ball into the hole set at the start of the game, the ‘Balers saw the quick Santa Catalina defenders pick off their passes and rapidly work the ball down to Cougars star 2-meter player Devan Kennifer.
Kennifer made San Benito pay each time she got great position in front of the ‘Balers’ goal, scoring three straight goals in the opening quarter, the last with 2:39 left, to put the Cougars up 4-0.
Junior Katie Buzzetta finally got the ‘Balers on the board with 30 seconds left in the quarter, and after Shelli Reed sprinted to get her team the first possession in the second-quarter, Buzzetta scored again to pull her team within 4-2.
But Santa Catalina kept the ‘Balers at bay with two more goals by Kennifer in the period as the teams traded scores. A pair of goals by Telles left San Benito poised to enter halftime down 7-4, but Cougars senior Elle Cahalan scored just before the buzzer to thwart San Benito’s comeback attempt.
Continued problems feeding the ball into their offensive playmakers prevented the ‘Balers from pulling closer than four goals the rest of the way.
“I think our defense just did a very good job of stepping down and taking away their drives,” Santa Catalina head coach Jim Morton said.
“They were playing very good defense,” Telles said. “I don’t think we were communicating as well as we normally do. It led to a little bit of confusion.”
Kennifer led all scorers with seven goals. Kaitlin Boensel added three scores and keyed the Cougars’ defensive effort with strong field blocks throughout the game.
Buzzetta and Telles both scored three times for the ‘Balers.
San Benito had not lost a game since playing in the Clovis West Tournament on Sep. 8-9, and never allowed an opponent to score more than eight goals before Tuesday’s defeat. The ‘Balers entered the game having outscored their TCAL opponents by a combined score of 107-34.
San Benito senior Stephanie Rodriguez said the weakness of the rest of the league may have hindered the ‘Balers’ ability to compete with the high-powered Cougars. “I don’t think we were shell-shocked,” she said. “Just playing so many other teams, we haven’t played anyone of their status yet.”
The defeat, which Telles called “a learning experience,” should give the ‘Balers a good idea of the type of competition they will see in the Central Coast Section playoffs. With the top-three TCAL finishers earning an automatic CCS bid, San Benito appears virtually assured of a postseason spot, but until Tuesday’s contest, the team had only faced two teams this season that made the 2005 playoffs.
As for the TCAL championship, Morton, the Santa Catalina coach, had to like his team’s position after downing the ‘Balers. “That means the league title goes through us now,” he said.
San Benito completes its regular season by hosting Gilroy on Oct. 26. The TCAL Tournament starts on Oct. 30, with the ‘Balers beginning play the next day.
JV Note
The ‘Baler JV girls’ team defeated Santa Catalina 9-5 on Tuesday.
