Merced College women's water polo team eases off the gas too quickly

Bill Halpin knew momentum had swung.

He gathered his women's water polo team around him before the start of the fourth quarter and desperately tried to re-energize them.

The effort went for naught.

Foothill erased a four-goal deficit and stormed to the top of the Coast Conference standings with a 10-9 victory on Wednesday afternoon.

"For two quarters and six minutes we did everything right," Halpin said. "Once we got up, I think we started playing not to lose, instead of playing to win.

"We stopped swimming. We trailed bathing suits for the whole fourth quarter and were waiting around for someone to do something on offense."

MC wasted little time building upon a 6-4 halftime lead.

Alexas Detherage scored at the 5:22 mark and set up Randi Reyes for a goal less than a minute later to give the Lady Devils an 8-4 edge.

The pool seemed to tilt towards MC's cage from there.

Tatiana Sheikhrezai and Melissa Sullivan closed the quarter with goals for Foothill to make it 8-6.

The Owls didn't slow down there.

Despite the Lady Devils' much deeper bench, MC began to look tired and Foothill started finding space in its transition game.

Kendall Preston cut the lead to one with 5:55 to play and Mara Blikslager equalized with a breakaway goal with just over four minutes left.

With the MC defense getting out swam, it began to grab. The referees noticed and the Lady Devils were penalized for nine kickouts in the game.

None was more costly than the one Reyes received with the game tied at 8-8 and just over two minutes to play.

Preston capitalized with her fifth goal of the match.

Blikslager followed 50 seconds later to make it 10-8.

MC answered with a Rebekah Dawn goal on a flawless set piece out of a timeout.

Dawn gave the Lady Devils a last gasp with a steal with 41 seconds remaining.

Halpin called timeout, but this time the set play never materialized.

Dawn passed on a shot and Jessica Zehrung was forced to throw up a desperation heave from a tough angle.

"We kind of just fell apart together, slowly," said Dawn, who had a team-high three goals. "We got up and we stopped attacking. If I had it to do over I definitely take that final shot."

Devin Stone had a team-high five goals, two assists and five steals to lead the MC men in a 14-1 win over Solano.