Girls water polo: Waubonsie Valley falters against York
If you can't get the hot start all coaches ask for, you might as well at least mix in a great stretch or two afterward.
That's the formula the York girls water polo team has been using of late, and on Thursday it worked quite well in an 8-5 victory at Waubonsie Valley. The Warriors (7-8) scored first and the match was tied at 3-3 after one quarter, but York used a dominating second-quarter effort to take an 8-3 lead at the half on its way to a fourth straight win.
“I think the last couple games we've had a slow start to the game,” said Dukes senior Grace Achepohl, who tallied 2 of her 3 goals in the second quarter. “We start out slow and then the second quarter we get it together, the communication is really there. We come out stronger in the second quarter for some reason and that was evident tonight.”
Fellow senior Carli York also scored twice in the big Dukes quarter and she too finished with 3 goals on the night. The big quarter proved to be the difference as York's talented keeper Sarah Lewand made several nice saves to preserve the lead.
Waubonsie Valley's Kimela Srey, who paced the hosts with a trio of scores, was impressed with Lewand's play.
“That goalie is long and lengthy and very talented,” said Srey, a top returner for a Warriors team hit hard by graduation after last season. “It's really us following through with our shots, treading out and really putting an effort and muscle through the shots.”
Junior Maria Campbell, who scored the game-winner late in the fourth overtime of the Warriors' win over Metea Valley on Tuesday, also scored against York (7-4). Alex Trico's tally in the fourth quarter closed the gap to 8-5, but that was how the match ended.
“We played a pretty strong first quarter, but York had an awesome goalie,” first-year Warriors coach Kelsey Sopron said. “So we had a hard time in the shallow end of the pool (in the second and fourth quarters), trying to score because she was pretty lengthy.”
But Waubonsie Valley goalkeeper Nicole Conway also was sharp, stopping a Dukes penalty shot as well as a number of close-range attempts by the visitors.
“Nicole has played absolutely awesome and I'm proud of my whole team,” Sopron said. “They've had adjustments because this is my first year coaching with them.”
York coach Mark Giuliani is thrilled with the play of his seniors but equally as happy with his junior keeper.
“Sarah is a stud. Our season would be different if it wasn't for Sarah in the goal. She's so consistent. She's got a level head. She's able to make the pass down the pool. She does all the little things, which is really nice as a coach to see,” he said. “We're on a roll right now. I'm happy to go into spring break feeling good.”