The Palo Alto High School girls’ water polo team fell to rival Gunn High School Saturday night in the Central Coast Section quarterfinals, ending its season.
Throughout the season the Lady Vikes had faced the Titans twice, each team claiming one victory.
“It has always been back and forth,” Gunn attack Elizabeth Anderson (’12) said. “It’s really exciting playing them every year.”
The Lady Vikes went into the game confident. Attack, Anna Glaves (’11) scored the first goal of the game halfway through the first quarter. But then the Lady Vikes lost their lead quickly when Anderson scored her first of three goals in the the game before the end of the quarter.
The second quarter opened with a tied score of 1-1. Both teams kept the pressure on, but the quarter remained scoreless until six minutes in, when a deflected shot slipped past the Lady Vikes’ keeper, Sam Banks (’11).
Skylar Dorosin (’12), playing attack, responded by powering through the Gunn defense and drilling the ball into the Gunn cage, tying the score at 2-2 with 15 seconds remaining in the half.
With the clocking ticking down, the Gunn offense managed to squeeze in one more goal before the end of the half, bringing the score to 3-2 in Gunn’s favor.
In the third quarter the Titans pulled ahead, scoring three consecutive goals. The Lady Vikes scored only one goal in this quarter, which gave the Titans a 6-3 lead at the beginning of the last quarter.
“We had a lot of opportunities, [but] we just didn’t put the shots away,” Paly Head Coach head coach Cory Olcott said. “Gunn shot better than we did, and that really was the difference.”
In the fourth quarter Paly senior attack Rachel Harrus scored two goals and the Titans added one more of their own, bringing the final score to 7-5.
“It’s sad,” Harrus said. “I think our team is pretty bummed.”
In her last game for the Lady Vikes, Harrus led the Paly attack, scoring three goals.
“[This] game is a reflection of what we did all season,” Harrus said. “[We were] really good defensively, [but] it takes us a few quarters to get offensive and to shoot the ball and take initiative.”
Although the team will lose some key seniors including Harrus, Banks, Glaves, Haley Connor (’11), Paige Devine (’11) and Katie Maser (’11), Harrus is hopeful for next season.
“I think there are really good players on [this] team who have good experience,” Harrus said. “Those players can lead the way and really be leaders.”
