Cats win in quarters, heading back to state
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cypress (13-12) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
|
Saddleback (20-11) | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
The Saddleback women's water polo team advanced to the 3C2A State Tournament with a 12-9 win against Cypress College on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Southern California Regional Tournament at Orange Coast College. It is the second straight season the Bobcats have qualified for the state tournament.
Saddleback had defeated Cypress College twice during the regular season and as the old adage says, it's always tough to beat a team three times in a season. Cypress kept things close throughout the match to make things interesting, but it was the Bobcats that proved to have too much for the Chargers on Friday, just like they had the two previous times they played.
Saddleback fell behind 2-1 late in the opening quarter before Julia Reid connected with 34 seconds remaining to even the score at 2-2. The Bobcats would never trail again, taking a 6-5 lead into the half on the strength of a pair of goals from Razann Kotarche.
Cypress evened the score to start the third quarter when Karly Lepel scored for the Chargers with 6:39 remaining in the quarter. The Bobcats then found their mojo, ripping off three straight goals as Kotarche, Holliss Munchoff and Lilian Wang found the back of the net to give Saddleback a 9-6 lead.
Saddleback extended the lead to four after Munchoff and Julia Reid scored to open the fourth quarter for an 11-7 advantage with 6:54 remaining. Cypress managed to whittle the lead down to two in the final minutes before Saddleback put the game on ice in the final seconds on a goal from Gabrielle Pasillas.
Munchoff, Reid and Kotarche all finished with three goals in the game to lead the Bobcats. Abigail Wallace played the entire game in goal, finishing with nine saves to improve to 17-11 for the year.
Saddleback is now 20-11 overall following the win. It is the second straight season the Bobcats have won 20 games and just the second time in program history.
Saddleback will continue in the 3C2A Southern California Regional Tournament on Saturday when they play top-seeded Long Beach City College at 8:30 AM at Orange Coast College.
