Neuqua Valley rallies to beat Waubonsie Valley
Considering they had only scored 2 goals in the game's first 23 minutes on Thursday night, the Neuqua Valley girls water polo team could have easily looked at the 2-goal deficit they faced against rival Waubonsie Valley with less than five minutes to play and thought it insurmountable.
Waubonsie sophomore goalie Nicole Conway had turned away 14 shots to that point and the Warriors defense had been stout. But the Wildcats found a spark during the next three minutes and change, scoring three times during that span to notch a 5-4 victory.
What wound up being the game-winning goal came from Gabby Koopmann with 1:36 to play. Koopmann got a great look from point-blank range after a Morgan Miller feed to Zoe Salafatinos drew the attention of the Waubonsie defense that created space for Koopmann in front of the goal.
"I saw my girl start to go towards the set, which was in the middle, and I saw my opportunity," Koopmann said of the go-ahead score. "I called weak and the girls came at me. I honestly didn't think it was gonna go in, but I kinda used some instinct and popped it in there."
The game got an early start to avoid a scheduling conflict at Waubonsie, and the unusual start time may have had the girls a little off their games in the early going. Neither team managed to score in the first period.
In the second Miller notched a pair of goals to put Neuqua on top 2-1 at the half. She finished with 3 goals total.
"As a coach, one thing I like to focus on early in the season is our defense," Neuqua coach Lucy Tiffin said. "We get the defense first and then the offense we'll get to and that showed tonight, as you can see based on the score."
In the third period Waubonsie senior Sarah Anderson helped stimulate the Warriors' offense. She assisted a Maddi Vuksinic goal to tie it and then put her team ahead 3-2 on a penalty shot.
Waubonsie extended the lead on a Megan Turner goal in the fourth that was also assisted by Anderson, but that's when the Wildcats made their charge.
"I was happy with the fact that we were able to hold them in check defensively," Waubonsie coach Diana Schill said.
Neuqua's Issi French had 12 saves of her own in the Wildcats' win.