The Paly girls’ water polo team lost to the Los Gatos Wildcats tonight by a score of 5-4. The game was a tale of two halves for the Lady Vikes as they fell behind early but clawed their way back into the game in the second half.
An injury to starting goalie Maddie Kinnaman (’15) forced Paly to use Abby Bromberg (’13) in goal. This, along with Tara Lawrence’s (’14) illness, left the Vikings short two starters.
Los Gatos came into the game fired up and ready to attack. Only a minute into the first half, the Cats scored their first goal to give them a 1-0 lead. For the next several minutes the game went back and forth with both teams playing solid defense.
Finally, with 2:15 left in the first quarter the Los Gatos coach was forced to call a timeout to give his girls a rest. After putting together a new game plan, Los Gatos assumed possession of the ball. This paid off in the end as the Wildcats were able to score one more goal before the end of the quarter. At the end of the first, Los Gatos led 2-0.
At the start of the second quarter, Los Gatos picked up right where it left off. With 6:33 left in the half the Wildcats stole a pass and scored on a one-on-one fast break. With few subs and little rest, the Vikings appeared to be getting tired as the second quarter rolled on. The Cats scored two more goals in the quarter, prompting Paly coach Spencer Dornin to call a timeout and give his girls a rest. The Vikings’ defense held strong for the rest of the half, not allowing any more goals. Going into halftime the Cats led 5-0.
During halftime, the Vikings regrouped and came out in the second half with a vengeance. Captain Abbey Kinnaman (’13) took it upon herself to get the team back in the game by scoring on a deep shot from the side of the goal. Paly’s other captain Martine Leclerc (’13) joined in by scoring another goal seconds later to cut the deficit to 5-2. With 4:30 left in the quarter Paly won another fast break opportunity but was not able to capitalize as the shot sailed inches over the net. The Vikings played lockdown defense for the rest of the third and the quarter ended with the score still 5-2.
Feeling the pressure and mounting momentum in Paly’s favor, Los Gatos was forced to step it up in the fourth. Both teams played relentless defense for the first four minutes of the quarter. Turnovers and blocked shots kept both teams going back and forth at an accelerated pace.
However, with 2:45 left in the game, Paly’s Tess Van Hulsen (’15) took a deep rip from the middle and flung the ball past the Los Gatos goalie. This prompted another Los Gatos timeout to give the coach an opportunity to regroup his players. This seemed to have little effect on the Vikings’ momentum. With time running down on the shot clock, Emma Wolfe (’14) squeaked a shot into the net to make it a 5-4 game with a minute left.
Paly stopped Los Gatos on its next possession and went on the offensive with :34 left in the game. Paly moved rapidly to try to create an opening but was unable to find an open shooter. With the shot clock winding down Paly was unable to get a shot off. In heartbreaking fashion the clock wound down, leaving Paly behind by one goal. The final score stood 5-4.
After the game, Dornin shared his feelings on the loss.
“Second half we were much more aware,” Dornin said. “We started implementing the defenses that we wanted to play. We were much more aggressive and we eliminated some of the mistakes that we were making in the first half.
The team will next compete in the St. Francis Tournament on Friday, Sept. 13.